One Newcastle star ‘looked lost’ as a result of Eddie Howe’s Sandro Tonali experiment

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Eddie Howe mixed up Newcastle United’s midfield trio against Crystal Palace with mixed success.

There were two changes to Eddie Howe’s lineup on Saturday afternoon with Newcastle fans delighted to see Sandro Tonali start in midfield.

Sandro Tonali was on the bench for Newcastle’s past three Premier League games but he returned to the lineup at Selhurst Park in a slightly different role.

Howe fielded Tonali as the deepest midfielder in Newcastle’s trio, with Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes alongside him.

Newcastle drew 1-1 against Palace and struggled to create chances, but Tonali was excellent in his new role.

Sandro Tonali must stay in new midfield role at Newcastle

Tonali’s performance in midfield was probably the biggest silver lining in the Palace draw.

It has been hard to squeeze him into midfield with Sean Longstaff playing so well recently, but Tonali proved on Saturday that he must stay as a starter, especially in his new No.6 role.

Defending is certainly not Tonali’s biggest attribute but he did not put a foot wrong against Palace. He won 100% of his five ground duels, completed three tackles and made three clearances.

Up next for Newcastle is a visit from Premier League leaders Liverpool, and Tonali must start against the Reds at St James’ Park on Wednesday evening.

Bruno Guimaraes ‘looked lost’ in Newcastle midfield

It has been club captain Guimaraes who has usually slotted into the No.6 position in Newcastle’s midfield, but he was granted more freedom to roam forward against Palace.

Howe rolled the dice with his midfield selections, but while the Tonali experiment was a huge success, journalist Craig Hope claimed Guimaraes “looked lost” against Palace.

READ MORE: I think Bruno Guimaraes should be very worried after Newcastle’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hope said: “The only thing left to explore was Tonali in the six and Bruno in the eight and that is what Eddie started today and I was surprised by that but it worked!

“It worked in terms of Tonali. Keep him in the six, I thought he was good. I thought he got on the ball, put himself about, looked far happier and looked enthused and energised and thrived with that responsibility of playing in the six.

“But Bruno went to the eight and did not look happy at all in that area, not in the first half. He looked lost really.”