Silver lining for Newcastle as promising Tino Livramento update drops
Newcastle suffered an agonisingly late blow at home against Arsenal in the Premier League, falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Newcastle will face Union Saint-Gilloise in their second Champions League fixture after their 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the first round of fixtures.
Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Newcastle came as a blow to Eddie Howe’s side, who had led the game through Nick Woltemade’s first-half header.
Viktor Gyokeres wanted a penalty in the first half, but Arsenal overcame the disappointment to grind out a 2-1 win.
Tino Livramento’s injury not as bad as first expected
Newcastle’s evening got worse when full-back Tino Livramento went off injured on a stretcher with a worrying-looking knee injury.
Newcastle insider Craig Hope did report that there is reason for optimism, though, with a positive update on Livramento’s injury.
Hope wrote on X, saying: “Rarely is a 6-8 week absence good news, but it has to be in the case of Tino Livramento.
“He saw a specialist yesterday afternoon & NUFC’s hope that his knee injury wasn’t as bad as first feared has been confirmed.
“It looked like a season-ending injury at the time, so to be back by December is a huge boost for Livramento, Newcastle & England.”
Tino Livramento injury a scare for Thomas Tuchel
After the weekend’s Premier League fixtures, attention turns to the second international break of the new season, with Thomas Tuchel set to announce his England squad in the coming days.
Tuchel had named Livramento in his last World Cup qualifying squad alongside Reece James at right-back, but Livramento is now out of action.
| Reece James for England vs Andorra and Serbia | vs Andorra | vs Serbia |
| Assists | 1 | 0 |
| Pass accuracy | 91% | 92% |
| Chances created | 2 | 2 |
| Passes into final third | 6 | 8 |
| Defensive actions | 4 | 5 |
Third-choice option Trent Alexander-Arnold is also unavailable through injury, so Tuchel is left short-changed at the right-back position.
Of the defenders to feature in Tuchel’s last England squad, only Djed Spence seems a natural fit to provide some cover for James at right back in the qualifier against Latvia and friendly against Wales.
Tuchel will no doubt have a contingency plan in motion after Livramento’s injury, but the blow will have hampered the German’s latest squad plans.