Ahead of this weekend's trip to Anfield, we asked Newcastle fans who they thought should get the nod in the centre of the Newcastle midfield after Jonjo Shelvey suffered a knee injury at Bournemouth which will likely rule him out for Saturday.

Shelvey has founded a vitally important partnership with Mo Diame at the heart of Rafael Benitez's formation this season, and the Magpies don't exactly have strength in depth at the position.

Isaac Hayden is one option for Benitez, but the versatile defender-cum-midfielder has only played one league game so far in 2018 and has been fighting to get back in the side to such an extent that he lost a tooth in midweek when going up for a ball in training.

But 68% of Newcastle fans who took part in our poll think that Spaniard Mikel Merino, valued at £9million by Transfermarkt, is the man to fill Shelvey's void. Check out the full results of our poll below:

How would you line up the Magpies at Anfield, Newcastle fans? Let us know by commenting below..

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