Newcastle host Manchester United on Sunday and the visiting Red Devils’ boss Jose Mourinho will come in search of his first ever Saint James’ Park Premier League victory.
In 6 previous visits to Tyneside since first arriving the topflight in 2004, the former Chelsea boss has drawn and lost on 3 occasions apiece.
Despite just being a point and place above the relegation zone, United may not find things easy against the Magpies, especially given the tactical change manager Rafa Benitez is hinting at.
The Spaniard will be looking to secure a morale-boosting result against the visitors, and has suggested that he could play loan signing and Chelsea starlet Kenedy out of position.
The 22-year-old winger has played on the left of the attack in his first 2 Newcastle games, but Benitez reckons he could help provide Paul Dummett tough competition for the left-back berth.
The former Liverpool manager revealed on Thursday: “Paul is a player that will always give you something that you are expecting.
“You can’t say he will make 20 crosses, score two or give five assists – but you do know he will be there doing his job. When we were looking for an offensive full-back it was or idea to have a different option.
“Paul can attack too but he is very steady defensively. He is somebody who will give you something. He’ll make mistakes like everybody else but he will give you something.
“He is aware of what is going on around him and he’s somebody you can trust. We have got somebody else to come in and do something different, Kenedy will more or less bring that to us.
“Kenedy is a winger that can play as an offensive full-back when we need. They are two different roles.”
With Newcastle at home, it remains to be seen if the manager will be keen to sit back and soak the pressure like the case was against Manchester City.
Kenedy will likely retain his position in attack, but it won’t come as a surprise if the Brazilian is deployed at left-back given how he played there majority of the time for Chelsea.
