Newcastle United are set to be without six key players when they host Arsenal at St. James’ Park Saturday, including their star man up front.
The Magpies are enduring a punishing schedule due to their involvement in the Champions League and Eddie Howe is facing an injury crisis ahead of two important matchups this week.
On Wednesday night, Newcastle make the trip to Old Trafford to play Manchester United in the EFL Cup fourth round – before moving on to face last season’s Premier League runners-up on Saturday.
Over the last week their squad has taken a significant hit, most notably with the news of Sandro Tonali’s ten-month suspension for breaching betting rules. The Italian will participate in a ‘therapeutic plan’ to help ‘recovery from gambling addiction’.
Midfielder Elliot Anderson picked up a back injury in his side’s 4-0 win over Crystal Palace earlier this month and the Toon lost an additional two key pieces a few days later when hosting Borussia Dortmund in Europe.
Alexander Isak re-aggravated a thigh issue which is expected to sideline him for the near future, as well as Jacob Murphy who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the 1-0 defeat on Tyneside.
They’re also missing Harvey Barnes with a foot injury that is projected to keep him out of action until December, as well as Sven Botman (knee) and Lewis Miley (glandular fever).
“You have to roll with the punches!” 💢
Eddie Howe assesses Newcastle’s squad depth with several players unavailable 🗞️ pic.twitter.com/3NpkXKvZFa
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 31, 2023
Howe told the media that Botman could remain out for the foreseeable future, having not featured since Newcastle’s triumphant 8-0 victory over Sheffield United in September.
“There’s an issue there and we’re working through various options to try to diagnose the exact problem. We’re still waiting for clarity on what is happening with Sven.”
“We have to get that balance right between changing and sticking with what we know so the players have the best platform to perform,” said the 45-year-old.
“We train and play in a certain way regularly. I think there’s a balance. There’s certainly been discussions about what we do. Let’s wait and see what we come up with.”
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