The Good, The Bad, and The Average #39: NUFC player ratings vs. Leicester (a) [PL31]

Newcastle United strolled to a 3-0 victory at the King Power Stadium against a hapless Leicester City, with the game being won in the first 11 minutes thanks to Jacob Murphy's quickfire brace.

Eddie Howe's men took another big step towards the Champions League with a third successive league win, setting themselves up nicely for the visit of Manchester United to St James' Park on Sunday.

Harvey Barnes got the third in the 34th minute to wrap things up, with the only disappointment being that we didn't manage to improve our goal difference further against Ruud van Nistrelrooy's 'team'.

Everybody in white had a good night, with scores for the starters ranging between '7' and '9', and we can't remember many more relaxing evenings watching the Magpies away from home!

Jacob Murphy got us off to a brilliant start after fantastic work down the left from Tino Livramento

The Good

Jacob Murphy continued his excellent season with two goals to wrap the game up before most of the players on the pitch had even broken a sweat. His finish for the opener was excellent and he showed great awareness to follow in on Fabian Schär's brilliant long-range effort to make it 2-0 in the 11th minute.

Speaking of Fabian Schär, he was really good aside from that amazing effort from inside our own half that deserved a goal. Dan Burn was similarly strong at all of the defensive stuff, without having a ridiculously audacious effort on goal, while Kieran Trippier put in another typically solid display at right-back.

On the opposite flank, Tino Livramento was tremendous again at left-back, with his assist for Murphy's opener a thing of beauty. His display was notable for numerous bursts forward in support of Joelinton and Harvey Barnes, with the former Leicester man getting a customary goal on his return to the King Power and playing well overall.

Our Brazilian duo of Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton didn't have to be at their sparkling best to help us to victory, but Joelinton had a hand in the first and third goals. We would've liked to see the pair of them control the game more against an incredibly poor Leicester side, but we can't blame them for conserving energy.

Alexander Isak was a constant threat but we didn't manage to fashion a chance for him during his 72 minutes on the pitch, while at the other end, Nick Pope was only tested a few times but was equal to everything. Sandro Tonali got about the pitch as well as ever but didn't put much of a stamp on things.

Eddie Howe probably wasn't chuffed with our overall performance but it's not often in Premier League history that we've had so many comfortable results away from home. Add that to the laundry list of things the gaffer deserves huge credit for.

Fabian Schär almost scored one of the best goals in our history but instead had to settle for a crazy assist

The Bad

It's no surprise to see Leicester City where they are in the league. We know they're low on confidence and on a tragic run, but they were a disgrace in the first half tonight and made it so easy for us. They got better after the interval but we'd pretty much downed tools by the 15th minute, if we're being honest.

Joelinton and Harvey Barnes have built up a good understanding on our left in Anthony Gordon's absence

The Average

Rob Jones won't get an easier game to referee than this. He still managed to be completely bang-average in the circumstances, though he did nothing especially egregious for us to complain about.

Lewis Miley, Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson, Will Osula, and Emil Krafth entered the fray with the game having been finished as a contest for ages and not a great deal was required of them to help us see it out with a clean sheet.

We didn't have to be anywhere near our best to get the three points tonight but we did what we needed to

The Breakdown

Although the opposition were incredibly obliging, all of the starters enjoyed a good night.

The XI

Nick Pope – 7

Kieran Trippier – 8 (off 87')

Fabian Schär – 9

Dan Burn – 9

Tino Livramento – 9

Bruno Guimarães – 8 (off 65')

Sandro Tonali – 8

Joelinton – 8 (off 64')

Jacob Murphy – 9 ⭐️ (off 72')

Alexander Isak – 7 (off 72')

Harvey Barnes – 8

The Subs

Lewis Miley – 6 (on 64')

Sean Longstaff – 6 (on 65')

Callum Wilson – 6 (on 72')

Will Osula – 6 (on 72')

Emil Krafth – 6 (on 87')

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 8

The Opposition

Leicester City – 3

The Ref

Rob Jones – 6

'If you look all the way down the table... I mean alllll the way down there... you'll find Manchester United.'

The Next

In between their two massive games against Lyon in the Europa League, Manchester United are the visitors to Gallowgate on Sunday for a 4.30 p.m. (BST) kick-off that'll be shown live on Sky Sports.

If we don't beat them by at least two goals, we'll eat our collective hats.

Howay the lads!

		PL	GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	31	42	73
2	Arsenal	31	30	62
3	Nottingham Forest	31	14	57
4	Chelsea	31	17	53
5	Newcastle United	30	13	53
6	Manchester City	31	17	52
7	Aston Villa	31	0	51
8	Fulham	31	5	48
9	Brighton	31	2	47
10	Bournemouth	31	11	45
11	Crystal Palace	30	4	43
12	Brentford	31	4	42
13	Manchester United	31	-4	38
14	Tottenham Hotspur	31	13	37
15	Everton	31	-5	35
16	West Ham United	31	-17	35
17	Wolves	31	-16	32
18	Ipswich	31	-34	20
19	Leicester	31	-45	17
20	Southampton	31	-51	10