The latest news about Newcastle United is that Eddie Howe needs to take care of a number of injuries before their game against Aston Villa.
On the first day of the Premier League season, Newcastle United plays Aston Villa. There have been no reports about the health of a number of key players. Eddie Howe’s team finished off their preseason with back-to-back games against La Liga teams at St. James’ Park.
On Friday night, Kike Garcia’s late header went past debutant Aaron Ramsdale and saved a draw for Espanyol from certain loss. Matt Targett and Jacob Murphy scored goals to put Howe’s team ahead after they fell behind early, but they couldn’t hold on for the win.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid team came to Newcastle on Saturday for the Sela Cup game at St. James’ Park. They tied their opponents in the first half, but goals from Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann sent them to their fourth loss in six pre-season games.
For Howe, those games were the last chance to put his team through their paces and get them ready for the new season. If you look at it on paper, going to Villa Park is always a tough job. But next week’s trip will be even harder because Howe will be missing a number of.
News about injuries for Newcastle United vs. Aston Villa
A lot of people will not be able to play at Villa Park because Joe Willock got hurt in the last few minutes of their game against Team K-League in Seoul. Willock hurt his leg in that game. Howe said that Willock’s injury wasn’t as bad as first thought, but the former Arsenal player would miss the first four to six weeks of the season.
Also, Alexander Isak probably won’t play at Villa Park. Isak won’t be able to play because he’s hurt like Willock did.
Howe told the press on Friday night in a revealing but vague interview that he would love to have Isak available for selection but that is not possible right now for a number of reasons: “We’ve had talks and it’s clear at the moment that we can’t involve him with the group…” I don’t know how long that will last.
“I believe I would like to leave it at that.” I believe that the things we talk about should stay between us. But it’s clear that I can’t ask him to join the team.
Howe said, “I’d want Alex to play today” when asked if Isak would play at Villa Park. I’d like him to train tomorrow.
“We’d love for the player to be here.” In order to be clear, there is no part of me that doesn’t want that to happen.
“But the way things stand now, before Aston Villa, I don’t see that changing.”
Some people also have questions about how fit Sven Botman and Lewis Hall are. Both players started against Atletico Madrid and Espanyol, but were taken off at halftime.
The Gazette asked Howe if either player had gotten hurt again or if those substitutions were planned ahead of time. Howe replied, “Both players are in similar situations where they are physically fit but haven’t played in a game in a while, so we need to not rush their comebacks, push them too hard, and risk further injury.”
“We have a long season ahead of us, and we need every player to do their part. They are both huge for us.”
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