Sky Sports have released the schedule for the upcoming round of Carabao Cup fixtures, where Newcastle United look set to face Bournemouth in the last 16.
Their site states that our fourth round clash at St James’ Park will take place on Wednesday 21st December, just three days after the World Cup final in Qatar.
The game has not been selected for TV screening, with Man Utd vs Burnley (Wednesday 21st) and Man City vs Liverpool (Thursday 22nd) set to be shown on Sky Sports instead.
It remains to be seen how they get on at the World Cup, but the fact we’ll play on the 21st means Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil), England trio Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson, along with Swiss star Fabian Schar are all at risk of missing out.
Should any of the above go far in the tournament, they’ll almost certainly miss the Carabao Cup game on Tyneside, making a mockery of the tight schedule thrust upon the players over the coming months, with us also facing a trip to Leicester on Boxing Day, followed by games against Leeds (31st December) and Arsenal (3rd January).