Newcastle United vs Fulham: Early Team News Ahead of Premier League Clash
Newcastle United welcome Fulham to St James’ Park this weekend as they look to bounce back from last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton.
The Magpies were undone by a Danny Welbeck double on the south coast, with Nick Woltemade briefly restoring parity. Despite that setback, Eddie Howe’s side quickly responded with a dominant 3-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Now, their focus returns to domestic action, where they aim to climb the Premier League table after collecting just nine points from their opening eight fixtures.
However, injuries continue to trouble Howe, who may once again be without several key first-team players for the visit of the Cottagers.
Newcastle Team News
Yoane Wissa is edging closer to full fitness and has returned to training on grass, but the DR Congo international is not expected to feature this weekend. His first appearance could come in Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie against Tottenham or the Premier League trip to West Ham on November 2nd.
There is some positive news for the Magpies, though. Midfielder Sandro Tonali, who missed training due to illness and sat out the Benfica clash, is set to return. The Italian was named on the bench midweek but wasn’t needed as Newcastle cruised to victory.
In his absence, Lewis Miley played a full 90 minutes, Jacob Ramsey lasted just over an hour, and Bruno Guimarães was substituted late for Joe Willock. Tonali’s expected return to the starting XI on Saturday will be a major boost for Howe, particularly in midfield where Newcastle will look to control proceedings against Marco Silva’s side.
Fulham Team News
Things look far less promising for Fulham, who could be without up to six senior players for their trip to the North East.
Defender Joachim Andersen sustained a hamstring injury in last weekend’s narrow defeat to Arsenal and is not expected to return for at least a couple of weeks. He joins Antonee Robinson on the sidelines, leaving Marco Silva with a depleted backline.
“It’s a muscle injury, something in his hamstring,” Silva said after the Arsenal match. “We need to assess if it’s more serious. Right now, we’re missing most of our backline — that’s our reality.”
Elsewhere, Sasa Lukic and Rodrigo Muniz are also set to miss out, while captain Tom Cairney faces a late fitness test. Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze remains sidelined with a calf injury suffered during international duty, which ruled him out of the Arsenal clash and will keep him out for several more weeks.
This injury crisis leaves Fulham facing a difficult task at St James’ Park, especially given their current run of three straight league defeats. However, Silva’s men will take confidence from having completed the double over Newcastle last season.
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