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Newcastle injury news: Javier Manquillo facing lay-off

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Newcastle United have been hit with another injury blow following the news Kieran Trippier had broken a bone in his foot, according to Newcastle World. 

What’s the latest Newcastle United injury news?

While the last three games have helped turn the mood of the season around, Trippier’s lengthy absence is a huge blow. Not only has the England international scored two goals in as many games, the former Tottenham star has been rightly praised by the likes of George Caulkin for the intangible difference he’s made in terms of team morale and organisation.

Now, Eddie Howe could be without what looked like the ideal back-up too.

Indeed, the report claims Javier Manquillo, who was also taken off during the win against Aston Villa, is likely to miss the next two weeks himself after suffering an ankle injury.

How big a blow is this?

While few would doubt that Manquillo is a downgrade on Trippier in this kind of form, the Spaniard had been one of Newcastle’s better players before the January transfer window.

Aside from Trippier, no defender has managed as many tackles per game (2.3, via WhoScored) while only Allan Saint-Maximin has offered more in the way of assists all season (3 to 2). FBREF data, meanwhile, notes that the former Liverpool defender ranks amongst the top three Newcastle players to have started over ten games in terms of pressing success rate (33.5%).

With Trippier and Callum Wilson facing lengthy spells on the sidelines too, Howe is missing some key figures.

Who could replace him?

The obvious answer is Emil Krafth, which is fairly concerning given how he’s performed since joining the club back in 2019.

Still, Howe has managed to instigate huge improvements from the likes of Joelinton and Joe Willock, so perhaps there’s at least a chance of performing similar miracles with Krafth.

Elsewhere, Jacob Murphy and Ryan Fraser could operate as wing-backs, although changing the structure of a winning team may be unwise.

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