Woltemade starts with Miley brothers - Confirmed Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen team news

Newcastle are finally back at St James’ Park, as part of the Visit Malta double header.

The game offers Jaissle his first taste of the SJP atmosphere, at least in a friendly setting. Jaissle had expressed how much he smiled when he saw the stadium; now he gets to see it full.

Here’s how the two sides line up at St James’ Park.

Confirmed line-ups 

Newcastle XI: Hornicek; M Miley, Thiaw (c), Botman, Hall; Steur, L Miley; Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes; Wissa

Subs: Gillespie, Harris, Charlton, Pivas, Sanusi, Johnson, Finneran, Neave

Leverkusen XI: Flekken, Gutierrez, Bade, Fernandez, Moreira, Tillman, Tapsoba, Arthur, Garcia, Maza, Kofane

Subs: Blashwich, Lomb, Hofmann, Terrier, Schick, Oermann, Tape, Poku, Vazquez, Boniface, Tella, Ruppecht, Dogannay, Hawighorst, Belocian

We knew the game would see a different 11, due to the fact we will play two different sides in both games. The lineup for the first game is very strong, with Wissa and Woltemade once again playing together, along with Mason Miley at right-back. 

Steur and Lewis Miley will play in the midfield together, which could be an exciting prospect. We also get the Miley pair playing together, which is a lovely sign for the future of the club; let’s hope Mason can stick with the first team as Lewis did.

Thiaw captain again in 4-2-3-1

The captain is once again Thiaw, making two out of three in preseason since Bruno left the club. The formation likely puts Nick in the number 10 role again, though we’d love to see Wissa play there with Nick up top at some point.

The sub bench also features a few lads that hopefully get another chance to prove themselves. Sanusi is yet to feature for Jaissle, and Neave has not had many chances under him.

Howay the lads!