Bayer Leverkusen manager Kasper Hjulmand has outlined all the things he is worried about when it comes to facing Newcastle United, and he’s absolutely right.
Newcastle United aim to put their Champions League campaign back on track tonight when they travel to Germany to face Bayer Leverkusen.
Can you name the player?
Newcastle will face this man very soon…
It’s a shame he didn’t come to Newcastle, we could do with him right now 😓
Without a win, the Magpies will struggle to make it into the top eight and qualify for the knockout stages automatically. Fans may have one eye on Sunderland at the weekend already, but Eddie Howe will be firmly focused on the task at hand.
It sounds like Hjulmand is, too, as the Leverkusen coach highlights the strengths in the Newcastle team and how they could impact his side.
What Kasper Hjulmand said about Newcastle United
Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Hjulmand was asked what kind of threat Newcastle pose, and he hit the nail on the head.
He said: “Newcastle United are a great team with a lot of power. A lot of pressing forward.
“Very physical, very good at set-pieces. So a difficult opponent, but so are we, when we play our best.”
With Malick Thiaw in goalscoring form and Dan Burn’s well-known prowess at set-pieces, Hjulmand is right to fear the Magpies.
The problem for Leverkusen is it can be almost impossible to defend against those kinds of scenarios, especially when a team is so well-drilled in set-piece routines like Newcastle are.
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Grimaldo? Tapsoba? Or someone else? Let us know!
David Moyes also spotted Newcastle physicality
The comments Hjulmand made about physicality are interesting, too. Indeed, this is not the first time Newcastle have been described in such a way, with Everton manager David Moyes commending how ‘powerful’ the Magpies were in their 4-1 win at Hill Dickinson Stadium last month.
Moyes said Newcastle were one of the ‘most physical teams’ in the Premier League, and that applies to every area of the pitch. Newcastle’s defenders are big and aggressive, the midfield is full of combative players like Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes, and even Nick Woltemade is using his size effectively in the final third.
One thing Hjulmand hasn’t recognised, though, is Newcastle’s proficiency from counter attacks. Moyes picked up on that, saying: “Their bigger thing was how quick they broke. Every time we risked the ball or gave the ball away, they were quick to try and get on us and they got onto our back line too quick and it caused us problems. We couldn’t stop it.”
It will be interesting to see whether Howe risks playing Yoane Wissa to inject more pace into the team, but either way, the Magpies have players who can really hurt Leverkusen in so many different ways.
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