Newcastle United’s Premier League campaign is back up and running after the October international break, with the Magpies in action against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Eddie Howe’s side are looking for a first win in four Premier League games as they take on the Seagulls at St James’ Park, with the Magpies facing a tricky run of fixtures before the next international break.
After the clash against Fabian Hurzeler’s in-form side, the fixture list throws up a trip to Chelsea and home clash against Arsenal before Newcastle head to Nottingham Forest ahead of the November international break.
Newcastle have only won back-to-back matches once so far this term and Howe will no doubt be looking for his side to establish some consistency as his side vie for a spot in the European places.
Having his strongest XI on the pitch will be crucial, but two Howe now has two key players walking a disciplinary tightrope.
Dan Burn latest to walk disciplinary tightrope
Going into the Brighton match, midfielder Joelinton was the only Newcastle player on four yellow cards, meaning the Brazilian was one caution away from a suspension.
But Dan Burn was shown a yellow card after just ten minutes against the Seagulls when he dragged striker Danny Welbeck down in the middle of the pitch, meaning he is now on four for the season.
Any player who is booked five times in their side’s first 19 Premier League games of the season will be handed a one-match suspension, meaning both Joelinton and Burn face the unenviable task of making it to the season’s halfway point without another caution, if they are to avoid a ban.
Newcastle’s 20th match is currently scheduled to be the trip to Tottenham on January 4, 2025, putting the hard-tackling duo on a ten-week tightrope.
Eddie Howe: ‘Too early’ to lose players to suspension
Eddie Howe has discussed Joelinton’s current card situation, claiming that it is ‘too early’ to see him miss any games.
“I’ve had many chats with Joe, on different things but that was one part of it,” Howe said. “We don’t want to miss him, losing him is always very difficult especially so early in the season, it feels too early to miss a player through suspension.
“It’s something he has to control but sometimes there can be a tackle where you’re a second late and you get a booking which you sort of accept. Maybe it’s the other ones that we need to eradicate from our game.
“You can’t have a destroyer, ball-winner, brilliant at second balls, duels, tackler – that force that he is in the middle of the pitch and not accept sometimes he is going to miss-time tackles and sometimes he is going to pick up yellow cards – you can’t have it both ways. Of course, we don’t want to lose him to suspension, we will try and help him a bit but as I say, you can’t have it both ways.”
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