Newcastle United travel to Molineux on Sunday to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 22nd game of the Premier League season.
Newcastle sit sixth after 21 matches and come into the fixture on a three-game
league winning run. That sequence has helped narrow the gap to the top four to three points. Their most recent league outing ended in a 4-3 home win over Leeds United, although momentum stalled in midweek with a 2-0 EFL Cup semi-final first-leg defeat to Manchester City.
Eddie Howe will be without several regulars. Fabian Schar is expected to miss around three months following surgery, while Jacob Murphy, Emil Krafth, Tino Livramento and Dan Burn are also unavailable through injury. Will Osula is sidelined and there is a chance he ends up leaving the club during the January window.
Wolves, meanwhile, remain at the bottom of the EPL table but have taken five points from their last three league matches and are unbeaten in four matches across all competitions.
They have won their last two home games, scoring nine goals, and beat Newcastle 1-0 at St James’ Park earlier this season. Wolves are without Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Toti Gomes and Leon Chiwome, while Marshall Munetsi has departed on loan.
Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk
On Schar and how long he is likely to be out for…
“He had a successful surgery yesterday which is great news. Everything went according to plan.
“It’s difficult to give a definitive but I think around three months out will be the diagnosis we’ll work towards. If it’s any quicker then great, but we need to give Fabian time to recover.”
On Dan Burn and Will Osula’s fitness…
“They’re both getting closer. Will hopefully will be training imminently – we’ll then have to make a decision on when we can involve him in a matchday squad.
“Dan is improving. He’s running which is a really good thing. His fitness will be OK, it will just be managing the pain of his injury.”
On Jacob Murphy…
“Jacob has had another scan and again, nothing is showing which is a strange one. You have to go on the symptoms and how the player feels. That’ll probably mean a period that Jacob has to come out. How long, I don’t know but we’re thankful it’s not a serious problem and hopefully one we can overcome quickly.”
On the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg defeat to Manchester City…
“I think there was a bit of fatigue in the Manchester City performance, whether that was physical or mental after the 120 minutes (against Bournemouth in the FA Cup). I know not everyone played those minutes but having watched the game, I don’t think that was us at our physical best.
“Now it’s a case, between that game and the Wolves game, of really trying to freshen the players up and try to get to our absolute best. This is a massive game in our Premier League season. We’ve built some momentum and we want to continue that as long as we can.”
On Joelinton’s form…
“He’s such an important player for us. You see Joey at his snarling, aggressive, confronting best – I think that’s when he’s in his best mental place. There’s a fine line, we don’t want him sent off, but he plays with that edge to his game.
“We’ve seen a solid return from him since he’s come back from his last injury. He had to be patient, but I think you’ve seen his qualities and how important he is. When he’s there, we look a better team in my opinion.”
Howay!
- Date: Sunday, January 20th
- Kick-off: 14:00 BST / 9:00 EST
- Location: Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton (England)
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