Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has confirmed that Magpies trio Miguel Almiron, DeAndre Yedlin and Christian Atsu are all carrying knocks and could be doubts to play against Arsenal.
All three players featured for their respective countries over the international break, and Benitez has revealed that they all have injury issues at present.
“I can say we have knocks, little things,” he told the Shields Gazette. “[Sean] Longstaff is the only one with an injury. [Fabian] Schar has had a test, and he’s fine.
“I think the knocks will be fine. Atsu, Yedlin, Almiron … we think they’ll be fine, but we will check. Everyone has been training apart from Longstaff.”
OPINION
This is slightly worrying news from Benitez, but it is tempered by the Spaniard’s assertion that he believes the trio will be fine for Monday’s clash with Arsenal. Obviously not having Almiron available would be a big blow for Newcastle considering the huge impact the Paraguayan has made since joining the club in January. He has elevated the Magpies attack to a level that it simply wasn’t capable of before his arrival. The bad thing, were Almiron to miss out, is that his natural replacement (Atsu) is also carrying a knock. If both players don’t pull through then that would leave Benitez with a choice between Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto for the final position in the Newcastle attack alongside Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez. Yedlin is another player who is a vital component of Benitez’s team and so were he to miss out on Monday it would be very bad news for the Magpies’ chances.
