Newcastle United team news v Tottenham: ‘Huge’ blow for Eddie Howe as Spurs handed advantage
Tottenham are set to travel to St James’ Park to take on an injury-ravaged Newcastle United side on Saturday (13 April).
The Magpies have struggled to match their performance levels from last season after being forced to contend with an unprecedented number of injuries throughout the 2023/24 campaign.
Multiple key players have been ruled out at different stages of the season, and it looks as if Eddie Howe now has yet another concern ahead of the visit of Tottenham.
Joe Willock was forced off in the 40th minute of Newcastle’s 1-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage last Saturday (6 April), with Howe offering an update on the 24-year-old after the match (via Chronicle Live, 6 April).
“Joe still feeling his achilles. He has been feeling this problem for some time now. We hoped that he would steadily improve. Today was a down day for him and he did not look right and was unable to continue.”
According to the Shields Gazette (10 April), Willock is a “doubt” ahead of Saturday, which will come as a frustrating setback for Newcastle, having only just got the 24-year-old back on the pitch.
Willock has only managed nine Premier League appearances this season, most recently returning against his former side Arsenal in a 4-1 defeat at the Emirates (24 February). Speaking ahead of that clash, Howe described Willock as a “huge player” for the club (via Newcastle United’s Instagram, 23 February).
This is, therefore, a big blow for Howe and something Ange Postecoglou must look to capitalise on.
Tottenham must take advantage of the injury crisis at Newcastle United on Saturday
Spurs will be desperate to build on their 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (7 April) ahead of a tricky run of fixtures.
Tottenham won’t have happy memories of St James’ Park, having been thrashed 6-1 on Tyneside last season, but this is a very different Spurs team and, as a result of injuries, a very different Newcastle team.
Postecoglou will be relieved to see that Willock might not feature on Saturday, with the Englishman often a handful in midfield, and a difficult player to play against.
The ex-Arsenal man featured 35 times in the Premier League last season for Newcastle, scoring three goals and providing six assists.
As per fbref, he was a real threat pushing forward, ranking in the top four per cent of his positional peers in England’s top flight for the number of carries he made into the penalty area (1.16 per 90) and the top six per cent for the number of progressive carries he made (3.41 per 90).
In addition, he once again ranked in the 96th percentile of Premier League midfielders last season for the number of touches he made in the opposition box (4.01 per 90).
Willock was not afraid to take chances on the ball, ranking in the top 11 per cent of midfielders for the number of take-ons he attempted (3.27 per 90).
He was also a big goal threat, with the non-penalty xG (expected goals) he generated (0.25 per 90) once again placing him among the top four per cent of Premier League midfielders.
Postecoglou will be aware that there will never be a better opportunity to get three points away at Newcastle.
He must therefore ensure he gets his team selection spot on, particularly in midfield, and capitalises on this Newcastle crisis.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs have been told to cut ties with one first-team player after a Postecoglou issue was mooted.
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