Newcastle United suffered defeat to Liverpool at Anfield last night, but supporters will be more concerned with the injury scare sustained by Alexander Isak.
The Magpies made the trip to Merseyside for their Premier League clash with Liverpool and were unable to replicate their winning performance from the weekend, losing 2-0 away from home.
Newcastle have lost three of their last five league outings and have now fallen into sixth following Chelsea’s victory over Southampton in the midweek fixtures – now three points adrift from Manchester City in fourth after they beat Tottenham Hotspur away from home.
The competition for a Champions League spot is tightening with only six points separating Nottingham Forest in third from Aston Villa in tenth, so there is still plenty of opportunity for Newcastle to grab their spot in Europe with 11 games remaining.
Howe will be keen to put the lacklustre performance at Anfield behind him very quickly as his side shift their focus on their FA Cup fifth round clash against Brighton and Hove Albion at home this weekend.
While the result against Liverpool would have been frustrating for the North East giants, there was a much more pressing concern when Alexander Isak was omitted from the matchday squad without any warning.
The Swedish striker was seen watching on from the bench last night after Howe made the difficult decision to not only drop him from the starting eleven, but completely remove him from the squad after suffering a slight groin injury.
Speaking to the media about Isak’s absence, Howe revealed:
“It’s really disappointing that we lose Alex, but he’s a player that we can’t take any risks with. It became apparent in the day or so after the last game that he was feeling something so he misses out today.”
“We don’t think it’s serious at all so that’s in part of our minds to try and keep him available for the following games we have.”
Will Alexander Isak be fit for Brighton?
With many season-defining games ahead of them it is completely understandable that Howe would not even consider risking his star striker for a second, even against the league leaders.
Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final clash with Liverpool at Wembley Stadium is on the horizon, and to risk Isak at such a crucial stage of the season could be catastrophic to their efforts of bringing back the trophy to Tyneside.
Indeed, it doesn’t appear to be too serious which will be a huge relief to supporters, but it remains to be seen as to whether Isak will be available for the clash with Brighton on Sunday afternoon.
Progression in the FA Cup would be ideal as there is another huge opportunity for Newcastle to reach a second final before the end of the season, however, they should have enough quality in their squad to manage without him if it means he is fit for the business end.
With that being said, Newcastle fans will now need to wait for Howe’s pre-match press conference ahead of Brighton on Friday morning to get a clarity on Isak’s availability and fitness.
