The good news continues for Newcastle United supporters.
What’s the latest Newcastle United news?
After a whirlwind week which sees a new regime in place at St James’ Park, it’s easy to forget that the team are currently lying second from bottom in the Premier League. Clearly, the changes behind the scenes are hugely promising for the future of the club but the most important thing in the short-term is to ensure Premier League survival.
To that end, recent news from Miles Starforth of the Shields Gazette on Twitter should help add to the sense of newfound optimism.
Indeed, he’s revealed that both Callum Wilson and Jamaal Lascelles are close to stepping up their returns from injury ahead of Sunday’s game at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Likely to be played in front of a raucous crowd following the takeover, the idea of having the team’s star striker and club captain back is another big boost.
How big a boost is this for Newcastle?
Hugely.
Wilson has proven the best source of regular goals since his arrival in 2020, while Lascelles has played a major part in keeping the team in the league before. Still, probably the worst thing the club could do would be to rush both back given their current standing.
For further context, Lascelles has averaged the highest percentage of successful aerial duels of anyone to have played more than two games for Newcastle this season (83.3%, via FBREF) while Wilson has outperformed his xG (scoring two goals from a rating of 1.8), only further indicating how valuable he is to a team who don’t exactly create many chances.
Given the lack of investment over the course of the summer, the squad is as threadbare as they come. The January transfer window might be a time to rectify that but, right now, Newcastle need to start getting points on the board. Wilson in particular has struggled with niggling injuries during his career on Tyneside thus far, so he needs to be handled with caution.
Miss any more games and the job becomes a lot harder.
