Newcastle kick-off their pre-season tour of Japan on Wednesday with Eddie Howe’s side facing Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama.
The Magpies have so far enjoyed a fairly quiet summer with Howe overseeing just one pre-season fixture. Newcastle overcame Championship side Hull City 2-0 on Saturday before jetting off to the Far East.
The Tynesiders haven’t been greatly affected by the summer’s international action, with supporters set to enjoy the vast majority of their senior contingent out in Japan.
Their tour begins against a Urawa Reds side that are in the midst of a disappointing 2024 J-League campaign. The 2022 AFC Champions League victors and three-time Asian champions faced Manchester City in the semi-finals of the 2023 Club World Cup, losing 3-0 to Pep Guardiola’s side, but are winless in their previous three before hosting Newcastle on Wednesday.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Newcastle’s upcoming pre-season friendly.
Urawa Red Diamonds vs Newcastle H2H Record
This is the first meeting between these two clubs.
Current form (all competitions)
Urawa Red Diamonds
Newcastle
Urawa Red Diamonds 3-4 Consadole Sapporo – 20/07/24
Hull City 0-2 Newcastle – 27/07/24
Kyoto Sanga 0-2 Urawa Red Diamonds – 14/07/24
Tottenham 1-1 (4-5p) Newcastle – 22/05/24
Urawa Red Diamonds 2-3 Shonan Bellmare – 06/07/24
Brentford 2-4 Newcastle – 19/05/24
Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 Jubilo Iwata – 30/06/24
Man Utd 3-2 Newcastle – 15/05/24
Nagoya 0-1 Urawa Red Diamonds – 26/06/24
Newcastle 1-1 Brighton – 11/05/24
Country
TV channel/live stream
United Kingdom
NUFC TV (subscription required)
United States
Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo, NUFC TV (subscription required)
Canada
NUFC TV (subscription required)
Urawa Reds are well into their domestic season, with their J-League campaign continuing on 7 August.
We’re unlikely to see many changes from their strongest starting XI, with Norwegian manager Per-Mathias Hogmo set to name a similar team to the one that was beaten by Consadole Sapporo on 20 July.
Urawa Red Diamonds predicted lineup vs Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Nishikawa; Ishihara, Inoue, Hoibraten, Sekine; Ito, Yasui; Okubo, Takeda, Watanabe; Matsuo.
Howe recently confirmed his 29-man squad for Newcastle’s tour of the Far East, with just a few notable names absent.
Callum Wilson hasn’t travelled due to injury, while Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier have been handed extended breaks following their Euro 2024 exploits. Exciting youngster Lewis Miley also misses out with the midfielder remaining on the sidelines alongside Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman.
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes are among the Magpie stars that could start in Saitama.
Newcastle predicted lineup vs Urawa Red Diamonds (4-3-3): Pope; Ashby, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton; Almiron, Isak, Barnes.
While Urawa Reds are enduring a tough season, they are in mid-season form and will provide a tricky test for a Newcastle team that have played just once in pre-season thus far.
Howe’s side were pretty impressive against Hull, with the manager showing off his tactical flexibility by utilising several players in alternate roles. We should see further experiments from the Newcastle boss throughout their tour of Japan, with several academy stars poised to earn plenty of minutes.
Urawa Reds’ intensity and freshness may give the Magpies a few issues, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Japanese team steal a result on home soil in this one.
