Assessing Newcastle injuries ahead of Premier League return

Newcastle’s injury crisis has taken a dire turn as they gear up to face Chelsea once the Premier League returns to St James’ Park on Saturday, Nov. 25, following the ongoing international break.

According to a story published in The Athletic on Monday, Newcastle could have “up to 12 potential absentees” next weekend.

The research by the staff of the media outlet paints a similar situation to the one experienced by the Magpies throughout the 2022–23 season a year ago when they suffered 15 injuries during the same period.

Last season, according to The Athletic, Newcastle endured 15.1 injuries per 1,000 minutes while this year, even though it feels impossible, the figure has dropped to 9.7 injuries per 1,000 minutes played.

There are concerns about the current and future availability of 10 NUFC players who find themselves sidelined due to various injuries, including Sven Botman (knee), Matt Targett (hamstring), Dan Burn (back), Javier Manquillo (groin), Elliot Anderson (back), Miguel Almiron (hamstring), Alexander Isak (groin), Callum Wilson (hamstring), Harvey Barnes (foot), and Jacob Murphy (shoulder), all of them nursing injuries.

Additionally, Newcastle can’t count on Sandro Tonali (serving a 10-month suspension for gambling on football) and for this weekend, the Magpies won’t be able to field Lewis Hall either as he is still playing under a loan deal from Chelsea and there is a clause in his contract making him ineligible to play against his parent club.

Newcastle’s muscle injuries are causing the most concern, per The Athletic report. However, only five of the current NUFC injuries are labeled as muscle injuries, ranking them ninth in this category among all Premier League clubs entering MD13 next weekend.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s matchup, it is still unclear if any/both Botman and Isak will be able to make their respective returns to the pitch.

Most of the absentees are expected to be out for the medium-to-long term, which is rather concerning given that Newcastle’s schedule won’t soften just one bit at least mid-December once the Champions League group games are finished and the cup matchups stop until 2024.

NUFC Injured/Suspended Players:

1. Sven Botman (knee)
2. Matt Targett (hamstring)
3. Dan Burn (back)
4. Javier Manquillo (groin)
5. Elliot Anderson (back)
6. Miguel Almiron (hamstring)
7. Alexander Isak (groin)
8. Callum Wilson (hamstring)
9. Harvey Barnes (foot)
10. Jacob Murphy (shoulder)
11. Sandro Tonali (suspended - gambling on football)
12. Lewis Hall (ineligible for MD13 - loan from Chelsea)