Eddie Howe has some big decisions to make for Saturday as several Newcastle United players struggled on Tuesday
Newcastle United welcome Burnley to St James' Park on Saturday, where they'll be hoping to shake off the disappointment of dropping two points on Tuesday night.
On the balance of play, Newcastle looked good value for a win over Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night, but a couple of lapses in concentration was all it took for the visitors to score with their only shots on target and rob the Magpies of two points.
As good as Newcastle were overall last night, there were a few players who didn't exactly pull their weight, giving Eddie Howe plenty to think about when picking his team on Saturday.
Howe has been rotating his midfield lately, using Lewis Miley to give his big stars a rest, but one man who has yet to sit one out is Joelinton, and he's perhaps the one who should have been benched.
Joelinton was horrendous in possession against Tottenham
As regular readers of the FEED will know, we adore Joey, but he's been more like the £40 million donkey we signed and deployed as a striker than the midfield beast he transformed into under Howe. He made a couple of crucial interventions last night to give him credit where it's due, but on the ball he was woeful.
He wasn't alone, however, as Harvey Barnes, who has a habit of turning to mush when he knows his place is under threat, did just that and we'd be surprised to see him on the team sheet on Saturday now that Anthony Gordon is fit again.
The big problem comes down the right flank, though. Jacob Murphy was anonymous last night. Far from his usual self, but when Howe changed things up by bringing on Anthony Elanga, that goodwill he bought with a solid display against Everton completely evaporated as he once again looked like he'd just beamed down from a distant planet and was told to play football without being told what it was.
Sandro Tonali's injury could see Joelinton handed a stay of execution
Sandro Tonali had to be taken off at half time after getting a good kicking in the first half, and we have to see if he's even going to be available for Saturday, which would likely impact Howe's ability to drop Joelinton.
Anthony Gordon coming in for Barnes is a simple fix; we just have to hope that we get the right Gordon on the day, but when it comes to the right wing, we'd stick with Murphy. He doesn't usually have two bad games in a row, and we just trust him more than Elanga right now.
We'll be doing our lineup prediction on Friday, and things could change between now and then, but we do know there will be changes for sure. There has to be, right?
