Newcastle United travel to the Saitama Stadium to face Urawa Red Diamonds on Wednesday as they continue their preparations ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
The hosts are currently midway through their J1 League campaign, where they sit 10th in the table, while the visitors are gearing up for their fourth pre-season friendly.
Match preview
![Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe pictured on May 22, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/25/eddie-howe_1.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe pictured on May 22, 2024 [IMAGO]")
© Imago
After securing a fantastic fourth-placed finish in the J1 League last campaign, their highest since placing third in 2016, Urawa would have been hoping to mount a charge further up the table this time around.
However, that has been far from the case for Urawa so far in 2024, underwhelmingly sitting in 10th place with just 33 points from 24 matches, taking nine wins, six draws and nine losses.
A disappointing start to the campaign saw them pick up only four wins and five losses from their first 11 fixtures, but a run of three wins and a draw in their following four matches indicated they were beginning to find their footing.
Urawa could not maintain that momentum though and have only managed two wins in their last 10 matches across all competitions, including a 4-3 loss to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, the league's bottom-placed team, in their most recent game.
This game against Newcastle comes in the middle of a two-week break in J1 League fixtures, giving Urawa the much-needed opportunity to improve on the training ground, and a positive performance against Premier League opposition could see a turn in fortunes for the Red Devils.
For Newcastle, this friendly marks the beginning of their trip to Japan, with their schedule also including a game against last season's J1 League runners-up, Yokohama F. Marinos, later in the week.
Eddie Howe's side have already played three matches in their pre-season preparations: beating Tottenham Hotspur on penalties after a 1-1 draw just three days after the Premier League season ended, then suffering an 8-0 loss to an A-League All Stars side, albeit with a second-string side, and most recently defeating Hull City 2-0 in their most recent outing.
After securing Champions League football with a fourth-placed finish in 2022-23, Newcastle failed to reach the same heights in the last campaign as they finished seventh in the league, failing to qualify for any European competition due to Manchester United's FA Cup victory.
Howe will be looking for his side to build upon their victory over Hull City in their upcoming friendlies against Urawa, Yokohama, Girona and Stade Brest ahead of a campaign where he will be aiming to return to the top four.
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Team News
![Shoya Nakajima (Reds) - Football / Soccer : 2024 J1 League match between Kashiwa Reysol 1-0 Urawa Red Diamonds at Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium, Chiba, Japan - APRIL 12, 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/26/shoya-nakajima.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Shoya Nakajima (Reds) - Football / Soccer : 2024 J1 League match between Kashiwa Reysol 1-0 Urawa Red Diamonds at Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium, Chiba, Japan - APRIL 12, 2024 [IMAGO]")
© Imago
The hosts could field a full-strength side as they look to build form ahead of their return to league action, beginning with a match against Kashiwa Reysol next week.
Thiago Santana has been the standout performer for Urawa this campaign, scoring 10 goals in 24 league appearances, and the striker is anticipated to lead the line in this one.
As for the visitors, they will be without Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman as the defenders continue their recovery from a cruciate ligament injury that is expected to keep them out of action until January.
Joe Willock will also be unavailable due to injury, while Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier will not feature due to their involvement with their national sides in recent weeks.
Elsewhere, Alexander Isak started and scored in their previous friendly against Hull City, and the striker is expected to feature alongside Jacob Murphy, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes in attack.
Urawa Red Diamonds possible starting lineup:
Nishikawa; Ishihara, Inoue, Hoibraten, Sekine; Ito, Yasui; Okubo, Takeda, Watanabe; Santana
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Livramento, Burn, Kelly, Lewis; Miley, Hall; Murphy, Joelinton, Barnes, Isak
We say: Urawa Red Diamonds 1-3 Newcastle United
While Urawa have the advantage of being midway through their J1 League campaign, their recent form has been dismal, while Newcastle's players will be fresh and wanting to set the tempo ahead of a new campaign, leading us to believe the visitors will win this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
