£45m star among three Newcastle players who will surely be axed vs Everton after their displays vs Marseille
Newcastle will be aiming to get back to winning ways this weekend against Everton after slipping to a 2-1 Champions League defeat to Marseille in midweek.
Newcastle beat Man City 2-1 last Saturday (22 November) and so will have been riding high as they headed to France to take on Marseille in the Champions League.
An early Harvey Barnes strike gave them hope of a vital win in the Stade Velodrome, but Nick Pope’s poor form continued as he allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to level just after the break.
The former Arsenal striker grabbed his brace soon after, and the hosts held on to inflict a third defeat in five games on the Magpies.
Numerous Newcastle players were slammed for their performances, and Football Insider have looked at three who should be nowhere near the starting eleven when they face Everton this Saturday (29 November).
Nick Pope
Newcastle fans have been critical of Pope’s performances so far in this campaign, and the uncertainty around him in-between the sticks has only increased after what transpired in Marseille.
The England international kept the hosts out in the first period, but undid his side’s hard work mere seconds after half-time as he rushed out of his goal to try to close Aubameyang down.
There was nowhere near enough time to do so, and the Gabon striker took the ball wide before finishing into an empty net. Pope also finished the game with just five accurate passes of 13 attempted.
Eddie Howe has Aaron Ramsdale waiting in the wings, and the Toffees clash feels like a really obvious chance to hand him a first Premier League start for the club.
Anthony Gordon
Anthony Gordon has struggled for fitness in recent weeks due to a hip problem, but he was restored to the starting lineup as a striker in place of Nick Woltemade on Tuesday.
He failed to make an impact on the game at all, as he created just one chance, had six touches in the hosts’ box, one pass into their final third and was booked for a cynical foul.
Newcastle fans tore into Gordon for his shoddy showing, and rightly so, as he did not look fit to start. He will surely be dropped for Woltemade this weekend against his old club.
Dan Burn
Lots has been made of Howe’s decision to play Dan Burn as a left-back this season in Lewis Hall’s absence, with his form taking a hit, but he even struggled in his natural centre-back role on Tuesday night.
This was a first club outing for Burn since he was sent off against Brentford, and he looked shaky and slow while trying to deal with the pace and directness of Mason Greenwood and Darryl Bakola.
Hall is now ready to play for Newcastle, while Tino Livramento is also back fit after playing at left-wing-back vs Marseille, and their probable inclusions in the starting eleven against Everton should see Burn drop out.
Fabian Schar and Malick Thiaw are Howe’s best fit centre-back pairing, and failing that, Sven Botman should be given the nod ahead of Burn too.