Newcastle go in search of their first Premier League win of the season as they host Brentford at St James' Park on Saturday.

Eddie Howe will be in the dugout for the first time since being named as the permanent successor to Steve Bruce and he will be looking for a reaction from the players on the pitch.

The Magpies were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton last time out in the top flight, with Graeme Jones in charge that evening, and the former Bournemouth boss could look to stamp his personality on the side following that result.

How many changes will Howe make to the team? Here is our predicted XI...

We are predicting that he will make three alternations to the team which started at Brighton, with Jamal Lewis, Fabian Schar and Joe Willock all coming in today.

Along with the change in personnel, Howe could deploy a 4-3-3 formation. Jones lined up with a 5-4-1 against Brighton and looked to set up defensively. However, the ex-Cherries boss may want his side to be on the front foot and trying to attack the opposition, which is why 4-3-3 could be implemented from the start.

With this formation, a change in defence will be required. We published an article explaining why Fabian Schar must be unleashed against the Bees and this means that two of the centre-backs who started against Brighton need to be dropped - Ciaran Clark and Emil Krafth, neither of whom has been especially convincing of late. This leaves Schar and captain Jamaal Lascelles as the two centre-backs to start Howe's reign at St James' Park.

At left-back, Jamal Lewis could come in for his first start of the season in place of Matt Ritchie. The Scottish defender played under Howe at Bournemouth but he has been in patchy form of late - with SofaScore ratings of 6.4 and 6.3 against Tottenham and Chelsea respectively - and it could be time for Lewis to get a chance to shine.

The former Norwich man has only made one appearance in the league this season, which came off the bench, and Howe's arrival has provided a clean slate for him. He could be given an opportunity to come in and show that he can perform to a higher level than Ritchie of late, with the £44k-per-week dud set to be axed from the starting XI.

Finally, Joe Willock could return to bolster the midfield, coming in to replace Krafth and facilitate the change in formation. The ex-Arsenal man scored eight Premier League goals during his loan spell on Tyneside in the second half of last season and could provide a goalscoring threat from midfield to improve Newcastle's chances of finding the net, which is why he could be selected in the team today.

AND in other news, Sissoko 2.0: Howe could solve major NUFC problem in gem "inspired" by Yaya Toure...