Newcastle United face a daunting task on Saturday.
Indeed, fresh from their first Premier League defeat of the season and a performance so bad it was branded as “awful” by Alan Shearer, Newcastle host Manchester City on Saturday.
Eddie Howe has not enjoyed much success against Pep Guardiola, save for the Carabao Cup victory against City last year.
While Guardiola will be without key players in Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, even the most ardent Newcastle supporter would surely admit City are favourites for Saturday’s game.
Howe’s task has been made even harder too following the news star striker Alexander Isak is a major doubt for the clash due to a toe injury.
With Callum Wilson also injured, Howe has very limited options up front. Will Osula could be in line for his first start, though it seems the Newcastle United manager has something of a plan involving Anthony Gordon.
How Eddie Howe will replace Alexander Isak if Newcastle star injured vs Man City
Speaking at Friday’s pre-match press conference, Howe confirmed that Newcastle indeed saw Gordon as the third option as a striker in the squad.
“I think Anthony, we’ve always viewed him as our sort of third striker in a sense,” he said (via YouTube).
“He’ll play differently, very differently to Callum and Alex because he’s not your out-and-out line-leader.
“But he’s very, very clever at what he does when he plays in that role. I think he did well against Wolves in the second-half. He’s more of a drifter in terms of his position but he won’t necessarily be the focal point but he’s certainly got the pace to run in-behind and the ability to link play. “
Anthony Gordon has to click for Newcastle soon
It would be fair to say that Gordon hasn’t clicked yet this season. In fact, he was slammed for his “shocking” body language by Luke Edwards during last week’s loss at Fulham.
Still, few would doubt the winger’s quality and the fact he’s reportedly close to agreeing a new contract should hopefully lift his mood somewhat.
While expecting him to rip a team as good as City apart feels extremely harsh, Gordon is clearly trusted by his manager to do the job at hand.
With that in mind and with a new deal seemingly on the way, it’s time for Gordon to step up this season.
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