Newcastle United will head to Goodison Park this afternoon for their Premier League clash with Everton and midfielder Joelinton will need to be on his best behaviour.
The Magpies are on the road today as they return to Premier League action after progressing to the last 16 of the Carabao Cup and Eddie Howe will be hoping his side can keep up their positive momentum.
Following a well-earned draw against Manchester City, they fell into seventh in the league table but if results go their way and they secure a victory against Everton they could earn a spot back inside the top four this weekend.
However, with Alexander Isak confirmed to be unavailable for the trip to Merseyside as he continues his recovery from a toe injury, the Newcastle boss will need to ensure his attacking threat is up to the challenge.
Anthony Gordon has been playing a makeshift number nine role with Harvey Barnes on his left and Jacob Murphy on the right, while Joelinton has been a consistent figure in the role linking play between midfield and attack.
The Brazilian beast has been a revelation at St James’ Park since forming a formidable midfield duo with compatriot Bruno Guimaraes, but his direct and aggressive style of play could cause Howe a headache if he picks up another yellow card this evening.
Joelinton has been cautioned four times in the first six Premier League outings, and if he picks up a booking at Goodison Park he will face a one-match.
When do yellow cards reset?
Although a ban against Brighton and Hove Albion at St James’ Park might be frustrating for fans, it might be best to get the one-match ban out of the way before the following two fixtures.
Newcastle face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and then Arsenal at home after Brighton in the league, so a yellow card at Goodison Park would not be the worst outcome given the difficulty of the following fixtures.
Howe spoke out in his pre-match press conference to NewcastleWorld, where he admitted he is not worried at the prospect of losing Joelinton for one game, as his style of play is important to the side’s success:
“I think you have to accept it to a degree but you can’t have a destroyer, ball-winner, brilliant at second balls, duels, tackler – that force that he is in the middle of the pitch and not accept sometimes he is going to mis-time tackles and sometimes he is going to pick up yellow card. You can’t have it both ways.”
“Of course we don’t want to lose him to suspension, we will try and help him a bit but as I say, you can’t have it both ways.”
“We don’t want to miss him, losing him is always very difficult especially so early in the season, it’s too early to miss a player through suspension so it’s something he has to control what’s in his control.”
“Sometimes with a tackle you can be a second late and you have to sort of accept that but it’s many the other ones that we need to eradicate from him.”
It would be wise for the Brazilian to accept his likely fate considering the fact he would have to not pick up a single booking until January 4th when the cards reset against Tottenham Hotspur.
