Craig Hope backs Eddie Howe to drop 'fantastic' Newcastle United player to start one of his favourites
Newcastle United take on Everton this evening at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. It's a 5:30pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.
Newcastle are looking for their first away win of the season in the Premier League, and to say that confidence is on the floor would be an understatement.
Many fans have been debating how Eddie Howe is going to line up his team today, particularly whether he will have the testicular fortitude to drop Nick Pope and start Aaron Ramsdale.
Another position that is up for question is the wings. Harvey Barnes has been Newcastle's only goal threat of late and doesn't deserve to be dropped, but with Anthony Gordon fit again, can Eddie Howe resist starting his golden boy even though he's done nothing to deserve a start?
Craig Hope thinks Anthony Gordon could be switched to the right flank today
In our lineup prediction, we said that we expect Harvey Barnes to be shifted to the right flank. We don't think Howe would be so callous as to drop Barnes altogether, but he may stick him on the wrong flank to accommodate his pet.
However, Craig Hope has given Eddie Howe slightly more credit, saying on YouTube that he thinks he may put Gordon on the right.
“I think he might play Anthony Gordon on the right, in place of Jacob Murphy,
“Murphy, who, for me, has done nothing wrong. He’s actually done more than that. In the game against Manchester City, he was fantastic.
“I do think that is the big selection call, given [Nick] Woltemade will come back in at centre-forward.
“It’s almost a toss of a coin as to who he plays on the right between Murphy and Gordon. But Gordon has to start offering more now, especially in the Premier League in terms of that output.”
Anthony Gordon should be told he performs or he's dropped
We're not sure we fully agree with Hope's claim that Gordon offers more than Jacob Murphy. Indeed, the stats would shoot that one down with ease.
We often find that unless Anthony Gordon is on the left flank and in the mood, he's pretty ineffective.
If you can't tell, our patience with Gordon is starting to run thin. For such a talented player, his output of late has been shocking.
