Newcastle United make the long trip to the south coast this evening for their Premier League clash against Bournemouth and Eddie Howe will surely be hoping that his team can continue their phenomenal form so far away from home.
The Magpies are currently fourth in the table, and taking all three points today will be important to their chances of retaining their Champions League qualifying place inside the top four, with Tottenham Hotspur just one point behind them in fifth and potentially moving ahead of the Magpies by the time things gets underway at the Vitality Stadium.
Howe has been given a huge boost ahead of this game as Alexander Isak is fit and available to play after suffering a concussion against Southampton in the Carabao Cup semi-final tie at the end of last month.
The Newcastle manager claimed of the Swedish striker in his pre-match press conference: “He will be in the squad. He’s fully recovered with no problems. Initially, he got hit on the head and he didn’t feel too bad but we had to follow protocols. He’s been good this week.”
As a result, it could be an opportunity for Howe to boldly ditch Callum Wilson and give Isak the chance to prove his worth in the starting XI against the Cherries later today.
Will Callum Wilson start against Bournemouth?
Indeed, the Newcastle stalwart found the net inside the first three minutes of the 1-1 draw against West Ham United last weekend, but his inconsistent form since returning from England duties at the World Cup is something that Howe should not ignore when he has an explosive and energetic striker like Isak available.
Wilson had Sky Sports punditry duo Shay Given and Jamie Redknapp purring last week as they labelled him “brilliant” and “quality” respectively. However, prior to that match he hadn’t scored since October and ultimately wasn’t able to kill the game, with two shots on target and only 20 touches during his 90-minute performance as Newcastle’s stuttered to a tenth league draw of the season.
Despite making only three starts in the Premier League this term during an injury-hit campaign, Isak has scored three goals and has made good use of his time on the pitch by averaging 1.6 shots on target, one key pass and 2.8 successful duels per game, tallying just 57 minutes per appearance.
The Swedish striker could be the breath of fresh air that Newcastle need, if indeed he is ready to start against Bournemouth, as a return to winning ways could be required to ensure that Spurs can’t knock them out of the top four by the time tonight’s action is concluded. To that effect, Wilson may be the fall guy despite his goalscoring display last week.
