An influential Newcastle United player could miss his side’s huge Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal through injury.
Newcastle preparing for Gunners after quiet window
The Magpies face one of their biggest matches of the season on Wednesday evening, as they take on the Gunners at St James’ Park in the second leg of their semi-final tie. Eddie Howe‘s side secured a priceless 2-0 victory in the first leg, thanks to goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon, leaving Newcastle dreaming of their first domestic piece of silverware in decades.
The Magpies go into the midweek showdown on a worrying run of form, however, having lost their last two matches at home in the Premier League. They were defeated 2-1 by Fulham last weekend, and prior to that Bournemouth romped to a 4-1 victory at St James’.
As for Arsenal, they are purring after thrashing Manchester City 5-1 at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, so Howe will be well aware that this will be a massive challenge for his team. Now, a worrying injury update has emerged leading up to the game.
Newcastle handed pre-Arsenal injury scare
Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie was the first to report Joelinton is an injury doubt for Newcastle’s visit of Arsenal on Wednesday, with the Brazilian nursing a knee issue picked up in the defeat to Fulham.
Not having Joelinton for the game would be a major setback for the Magpies, considering the 28-year-old is such a dominant force in the middle of the park alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, but while Howe has confirmed there is concern in his pre-match press conference he did drop nine promising words for fans.
“We will give him every chance to be fit.”
The Newcastle hero is also thought of extremely highly by his Newcastle teammates, with Downie revealing as much earlier this season, saying: “He’s running that midfield. You speak to any player, I was up speaking to Joe Willock today and he just started talking about how good he is.
“Callum Wilson, I heard him on his podcast the other week, saying the exact same thing. Sean Longstaff did an interview after the Manchester United draw. And he said, ‘Look, he gets to he gets a lot of stick. He is the best player in training every day’.”
Should the £150,000-a-week Joelinton miss out, Newcastle cannot let it affect them, however, as they look to avoid an Arsenal comeback and an elimination that would be an almighty blow for the whole club.
In his absence, Joe Willock arguably looks the most likely player to take his colleague’s place in Howe’s starting lineup, but Sean Longstaff is also an option, should the manager want a more defence-minded player accompanying Bruno and Tonali.
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A huge night is in store for anyone of a Newcastle persuasion, and if they can make it to the final next month, one of the biggest occasions in the club’s history awaits.
