Newcastle United will continue their preparations for the 2022-23 campaign with a friendly against German outfit 1860 Munich in Austria on Friday.
While the Magpies have just under a month to wait before their Premier League opener with Nottingham Forest, the Lions return to 3. Liga action in just over a weeks' time.
Match preview
For the fifth successive season, 1860 Munich will be competing in the third tier of German football, following their fourth-placed finish in 2021-22.
Despite recording a 6-3 victory against Borussia Dortmund II on the final day of the season, the Lions narrowly missed out on a playoff spot as they finished just two points behind Kaiserslautern in third place.
Michael Kollner's side, who will be one of the favourites to secure promotion this term, have since taken part in three pre-season friendlies this summer and it is fair to say that they have had a mixed set of results thus far.
1860 Munich secured a comfortable 4-0 win against Karlsruher at the end of last month before playing out 1-1 draws with Austrian duo SV Ried and Lask Linz, but they suffered a setback in their most recent friendly as they were thrashed 6-0 by top-flight side Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.
The Lions will now prepare to lock horns with Newcastle in their final warm-up match before they begin the new campaign away against Dynamo Dresden on July 23.
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It is fair to say that Newcastle experienced an eventful 2021-22 campaign, which included a relegation battle, a mid-season managerial changeover and the small matter of a Saudi-backed takeover.
Nevertheless, Eddie Howe's side ended the season on a high as they finished 11th in the Premier League, boasting a considerable 14-point gap from the bottom three which would have been unthinkable under the tutelage of Steve Bruce leading up to Christmas last year.
The Magpies spent close to £100m in January and they have already splashed more cash on summer recruits with Nick Pope, Matt Targett and Sven Botman arriving for a combined fee of around £58m.
While the club's hierarchy plan to make further additions before the new season, Howe and his squad are currently based in Austria where they have been training ahead of two pre-season friendlies against 1860 Munich and Mainz.
Newcastle kicked off their pre-season preparations with a comfortable 5-1 victory against non-league outfit Gateshead last weekend, and after their two matches in Austria, the Magpies will face Benfica, Atalanta BC and Athletic Bilbao later this month before beginning the 2022-23 campaign with a trip to Nottingham Forest on August 6.
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Team News
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1860 Munich are expected to name a strong starting lineup as Friday's game will be their last friendly before the German third division begins next week.
Summer signings Jesper Verlaat, Christopher Lannert, Tim Rieder, Joseph Boyamba and Albion Vrenezi all played in their last friendly and are set to feature again on Friday.
Striker Marcel Bar, who was the club's top scorer last season with 21 league goals, could return to the first XI after starting on the bench last time out.
As for Newcastle, Howe fielded almost two different starting lineups in each half against Gateshead and he will likely take a similar approach on Friday.
Miguel Almiron scored a brace against the non-league side, while Matt Ritchie, Joelinton and Sean Longstaff were also on the scoresheet, and all four players are set to be involved again in Austria.
Neither Pope or Botman played last weekend, but the pair could feature for the Magpies for the first time this weekend.
1860 Munich possible starting lineup:
Hiller; Lannert, Morgalla, Verlaat, Steinhart; Rieder; Vrenezi, Deichmann, Boyamba, Lex; Bar
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Manquillo, Lascelles, Burn, Dummett; S. Longstaff, Shelvey, Willock; Fraser, Wilson, Almiron
We say: 1860 Munich 1-3 Newcastle United
Newcastle are understandably the favourites for this friendly contest, but 1860 Munich will be keen to give a good account of themselves in their final warm-up match of the summer.
Nevertheless, the Magpies should be too strong for their German counterparts, even if they are to make several changes to their side throughout the match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
