Key Newcastle midfielder spotted hobbling away from SJP after Arsenal defeat

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Joelinton was spotted limping out of St James’ Park after Newcastle United’s defeat to Arsenal on Sunday providing an extra level of stress for Eddie Howe ahead of the Leeds United game.

Newcastle World have said that Joelinton was spotted limping through the mixed zone following the game against Arsenal and that the £40million man was struggling to put weight on his ankle.

This could be terrible news for Newcastle with Sean Longstaff already likely to miss the trip to Leeds for the early kick-off on Saturday.

Joelinton was recently singled out as Newcastle’s Player of the Season

Joelinton has been a revelation under Eddie Howe with TalkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino recently singling him out as Newcastle’s player of the season, so losing the Brazilian tank for any of the remaining games of the season will be a huge blow to the Magpies.

Howe has already spoken of the lack of balance in the team yesterday due to missing Sean Longstaff, so I’m not sure how much we can really afford to lose another midfield anchor.

Joelinton’s almost telepathic understanding with Bruno Guimaraes is a huge part of Newcastle’s success on the pitch, the two move as one entity when matched up in the middle of the park.

It’s not just about what Newcastle could potentially lose in Joelinton, it’s about who replaces him in the side.

If Joelinton is out, then who comes in?

Anthony Gordon would be the obvious choice for me, but in the few starts he’s made for Newcastle his performances haven’t really been up to scratch. He’s always looked better coming off the bench late in the game.

Elliot Anderson has been knocking on the door all season, but much like Gordon his performances when starting games hasn’t matched up with what we know he can do.

The other option would be to start with Allan Saint-Maximin but he’s just coming back from another hamstring injury and Howe will be reluctant to ask him to do too much too soon and potentially cause another flare up.

Of course, this could all be moot as Joelinton, as mentioned, is a tank and could shake off this knock well before the game on Saturday. Hopefully that is the case. No disrespect to the three aforementioned players, but Joelinton has been a huge part of the team’s success and losing what he brings, while also missing Longstaff, would be a step too far.