Newcastle United suffered an injury scare during their 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The opening stages of Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace were dominated by injury concerns for the away side, with multiple Toon players going down with problems.
Alexander Isak, Joe Willock and Joelinton all received treatment from the Newcastle United physio in the opening 20 minutes, with the latter forced off.
It looked like Isak suffered a hip injury, and it resulted in him being replaced by Harvey Barnes in the 22nd minute. Eddie Howe opted to deploy Anthony Gordon as a striker, rather than turn to Callum Wilson or Will Osula.
It was a major blow to see Isak forced off, so soon after Wilson’s return from injury. It feels like Newcastle United are destined to never have two fully fit senior strikers.
Eddie Howe shares Alexander Isak injury update
It remains to be seen whether Isak is going to endure a spell out of the team. However, he will certainly be a doubt for Wednesday night’s game against Liverpool at St James’ Park.
But Eddie Howe has provided an update on the 25-year-old’s condition, with the Newcastle United manager admitting that Isak suffered a contact injury rather than a muscle problem.
“It was a contact injury, not a muscle pull, which is good news for us,” he told the Chronicle.
“We hope he will recover quickly but at this moment I don’t know.”
READ MORE: Who is Alexander Isak? Age, Height, Family, Nationality, Roots
Positive Isak injury news after concerning Newcastle performance
The fact it is not a muscle problem is good news. It should hopefully result in Isak quickly shaking this injury off in time to start against Liverpool in midweek.
That is vital, as Howe is obviously reluctant to start Wilson so soon after his return to fitness.
The 32-year-old was only trusted to play the final 15 minutes at Selhurst Park, coming on to replace Anthony Gordon in the 75th minute.
The hope was that Wilson’s introduction would help Newcastle see out what would have been a rather fortunate 1-0 win away from home after Marc Guehi’s own goal. However, the Magpies conceded in stoppage time from a Daniel Munoz header.
The big concern coming out of the game at Selhurst Park was Newcastle’s inability to create chances. Eddie Howe’s side did not have a single shot on target, with a Crystal Palace player having to score Newcastle’s goal for them.
Creating goals and scoring chances is proving to be a big issue for Newcastle, and it will become more of a problem if Isak is set to endure an injury layoff.
Fortunately, that might not happen after it was confirmed that Isak has not suffered a muscle injury.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
