Ramsey out, Joelinton starts - Confirmed Newcastle and Brighton team news

Newcastle United take on Brighton and Hove Albion at St James' Park in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday afternoon.

The Magpies have a horrible record against Brighton lately, and given their recent run of defeats, this fixture really couldn't come at a worse time for Eddie Howe.

Brighton comes to St James' Park in good form, looking to increase their chances of nabbing European football next season.

Meanwhile, Leeds United overtook Newcastle in the league table on Friday night after their 3-1 win over Burnley. Things are starting to look rather desperate for Newcastle now, and as such, they could really do with getting a result.

Confirmed lineups

Newcastle XI: Pope - Burn, Botman, Thiaw, Miley - Joelinton, Bruno, Tonali - Willock, Osula, J. Murphy

Substitutes: Ramsdale, Trippier, Hall, Wissa, Gordon, Barnes, Elanga, Woltemade, Ramsey

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, van Hecke, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Baleba, Welbeck, Boscagli, Mitoma, Kadioglu, Wieffer, Gross

Howe's selections explained

Eddie Howe makes just one change to the lineup from last week, dropping Jacob Ramsey for Joelinton, who returns after serving his two-match ban.

That means Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy and Dan Burn all keep their place in the side, which has seriously knocked our confidence down a few pegs. Dan Burn up against Yankuba Minteh is giving us the shakes already.

Danny Welbeck, starting for Brighton, is also a problem as he absolutely loves scoring against us.

We'd hoped for a few more changes for this one as it's an entirely different proposition to Arsenal. We're at home and should be on the front foot, but this team is set up to absorb pressure.

Honestly, we were quietly confident that we could at least snatch a draw against our bogey team today, but that's all gone after seeing the team news.