Newcastle United host Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park on Saturday in their Premier League MD35 fixture.
Eddie Howe’s side enters the match following a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, extending their losing run to five matches across all competitions and four in the league alone.
Newcastle remain 14th in the table, eight points above the relegation zone with four games to go and still not having secured their EPL safety—believe that.
The defeat at the Emirates last weekend also ended an 18-game scoring
run in all competitions, which couldn’t have come at a worse time, considering the Gunners just put one ball inside the Magpies’ net. Yikes!
Brighton, meanwhile, arrive following a 3-0 win over Chelsea, extending their strong run to 13 points from their last five league games. They sit sixth in the table and remain in contention for European qualification.
This weekend’s visitors have taken 10 points from their last four away matches, keeping three clean sheets in that period, and are unbeaten in their last six meetings with Newcastle. Tough matchup ahead, by the looks of it.
Bruno Guimaraes returned to action last weekend and is expected to feature again, while Joelinton is also available following suspension, and thus expected to make the XI. Anthony Gordon could return from a groin issue and depending on whether or not Howe decides to play a natural striker or not, Gordon should either man the left wing or that makeshift-striker role he’s been so accustomed to be deployed in.
Fabian Schar, Tino Livramento, and Emil Krafth remain unavailable, while it’s also unclear whether Nick Pope or Aaron Ramsdale will start in net.
Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk
On Gordon…
“He did part of a session on Wednesday. It was great to see him back on the pitch. He’s a player of huge quality and one that we’ve missed.
“We’ll make an assessment on his fitness closer to the game and see what he gets through today.”
On Saturday’s game…
“We need to keep the level of performance where it was against Arsenal. The team looked good, it looked confident, it defended well. I think it was a big upturn.
“We need to back that up at home, our home form has not been strong enough. A lot riding on this weekend for us.”
On Yoane Wissa…
“Yoane’s only issue has been the injury he suffered [in September]. When he returned, he wasn’t physically able to deliver the quality of performance he traditionally has done in the Premier League.
“There’s no doubting the quality of the player but can we get him in a physical condition to deliver his best performances before the end of the season – that’s been the challenge.
“Since we’ve returned to full team training I think we’ve seen a big lift in his performances because trying to get him fit with small numbers in training sessions is tough. As long as he continues to show that upward trajectory I think we’ll see the very best of him in the future.”
On Nick Woltemade, who scored in October’s reverse fixture against Brighton…
“He’s training well. I think again he’s benefiting from the bigger sessions with 20 players that we’ve missed throughout the season and now we’re beginning to work with him on the things we feel like we needed to earlier in the season but didn’t have the opportunity to.
“I thought his pass for Yoane was sublime against Arsenal. It was great to see those two link together and looked like it could be a potential partnership for us.”
On Lewis Hall…
“I made the decision, last week, to change the backline in respect that we hadn’t kept enough clean sheets and I felt we needed to change something.
“We changed our goalkeeper, Lewis’ position and I thought it had a positive response to the look of the team. That’s no reflection on Lewis – that’s on what the team delivered in that game.
“There’s pros and cons to every decision that you make but we needed the height from set-plays in that particular game. It was a collective thought around that decision.
“Every player has to fight for his place and, when you play, you have to do enough to stay in.”
On Joelinton returning from suspension…
“Joey’s a massive part of what we do. He’s got that will to win and that determination to fight for everything. Every loose ball, every duel. He’s there from the beginning of the game till the end.
“He’s got that mentality that we need more of. He’s the one setting the standards so, when he’s not playing, I think we miss something, his unique qualities, and it’ll be great to have him back available.”
On facing Brighton, unbeaten in their last five meetings with the Magpies…
“We’ve had some tough defeats against them recently. I think they’ve all been pretty tight games but they’ve fallen the wrong way for us.
“You can look back at the games from a tactical viewpoint in terms of feeling, we need to use those past disappointments to spur us into games.”
Howay!
- Date: Saturday, May 2nd
- Kick-off: 15:00 BST / 10:00 EST
- Location: St. James’ Park, Newcastle (England)
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