Yoane Wissa (£7.3m) netted on his full Newcastle United debut on Wednesday as the Magpies made it to their third EFL Cup semi-final in four seasons.
However, it was a potentially costly evening on the injury front, with both first-choice full-backs now flagged.
Here are our latest Scout Notes.
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RESULTS
| Result | Goals | Assists | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | Fulham | 2-1 | Wissa, Miley | Lukic | J Murphy, Tonali | Robinson |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | Changes from GW16 starting XI | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | 6 | Ramsdale (90), Miley (90), Thiaw (90), Guimaraes (90), Livramento (76) | Schar (90), Ramsey (90), J Murphy (85), Barnes (85), Willock (72), Wissa (72), Tonali (18), Woltemade (18), A Murphy (14), Gordon (5), Elanga (5) |
| Fulham | 4 | Tete (90), Andersen (90), Robinson (90), Berge (90), Wilson (90), Jimenez (90), Smith Rowe (74) | Lecomte (90), Cuenca (90), Kevin (74), Lukic (45), Reed (45), King (16), Traore (16), Kusi-Asare (1) |
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO…
Newcastle approached Wednesday’s cup tie already without four defenders due to injury.
Things were to get even worse, however.
Firstly, Lewis Hall (£5.2m) missed out with a minor hamstring issue.
Then, Tino Livramento (£4.9m) walked off gingerly with what looked like a knee injury in the final 15 minutes.
It left Newcastle with just two fit senior defenders, both of them centre-backs: Fabian Schar (£5.3m) and Malick Thiaw (£5.0m).
Midfielder Lewis Miley (£4.4m) played the whole game at right-back, while rookie Alex Murphy (£3.8m), more of a centre-half who has never started a Premier League game, ended the tie at left-back.
There is a possibility that Hall could be back for Chelsea on Saturday, not that Eddie Howe would be drawn on it. The injury to Livramento looks to be the biggest cause for concern.
“Tino, I don’t know. I mean, bitterly disappointed to see him go off and I know how sort of tough he is and how strong he is. So, for him to go off, it seems like there’s an injury there to his knee.
“With Lewis, he just felt a bit of discomfort in his hamstring. We’re confident that it’s not a serious injury.
“Who knows [if Hall is going to be fit for Chelsea]?” – Eddie Howe
GAME-TIME BOOST FOR £4.4M MILEY?
So, if the worst fears are realised with Livramento, Miley may be forced to deputise at right-back for the next 3-5 Gameweeks. Kieran Trippier (£4.9m) and Emil Krafth (£4.3m) are not due back till early January.
Howe’s presser will be one to monitor on Friday.
Miley, who was already seeing game-time as part of the regular rotation in midfield (starting three of the last four league matches), could be set for a minutes boost over Christmas, then.
That’s potentially good news for FPL managers wanting a cheapo midfield option, perhaps to help finance an upgrade of their budget third forward to Hugo Ekitike (£8.6m). Miley, a big lad despite the baby face, has shown he can pop up with the odd goal, adding Wednesday’s headed winner – which came seconds after he was denied by a superb save – to the strike against Everton three weeks ago.
Defensive contributions (DefCon) may also arrive from full-back.
”He’s turning into a very, very important player for us, as we knew he would.” – Eddie Howe on Lewis Miley
It’s not so good news if you’re coveting a Newcastle clean sheet. Miley’s injury-time effort no doubt swayed the Man of the Match award panel but he (understandably) looked suspect at times at right-back, and Fulham’s goal came down his wing. One for Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) to exploit on Saturday, you’d think.
WISSA V WOLTEMADE
Wissa took just 10 minutes of his first Newcastle start to open his account.
Immediately, you could see the difference between the former Brentford man and Nick Woltemade (£7.4m). Wissa is more of a poacher, a striker at home in the 18-yard box. His predatory instincts led him to the opening goal against Fulham, reacting instinctively when Benjamin Lecomte (£3.9m) knocked Jacob Murphy’s (£6.0m) low cross straight into his path. Newcastle, especially Murphy and Harvey Barnes (£6.3m), looked to find him constantly with crosses.
Woltemade is more of a roamer, a link-up man with nimble footwork. He can score close-range goals, and that is something Howe appears to be trying to coach into him, but he’s not a natural goal-hanger like Wissa.
Having two strikers with different skill sets finally gives Howe options up top. But for Woltemade as a reliable starter in FPL terms, the game is pretty much up. He’ll very likely get Gameweek 17; thereafter, rotation beckons.
FULHAM GO STRONG
Bar the ‘cup goalkeeper’ selection, Marco Silva went as strong as he could.
Three of his four changes were enforced due to AFCON exits, so in came Jorge Cuenca (£4.3m), Sasa Lukic (£5.0m) and Kevin (£5.8m). Lukic nodded in Fulham’s leveller before going off at half-time as a precaution due to groin tightness.
There’s no real worry about rotation in Gameweek 17, however, as Fulham don’t play till Monday night.
After a bright start, the Cottagers retreated and were seemingly playing for penalties by the end. They had just two shots in the final hour.
The in-demand Harry Wilson (£5.6m) was quiet, as all his teammates were, after setting up a couple of early chances.
Antonee Robinson (£4.9m), who had to wait until last weekend for his first league start of the season due to knee issues, rolled back memories of the last campaign with his assist for Lukic’s header.
