Bournemouth 2 Newcastle 0: Injuries hit hard as Solanke punishes Howes tired team

Newcastle suffered a 2-0 defeat against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium to leave them seventh in the Premier League at best heading into the international break. They will be eighth if Brighton beat visitors Sheffield United on Sunday.

Dominic Solanke’s second-half double condemned Eddie Howe’s side to their second defeat in a week, after their Champions League loss by the same scoreline against Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

Chris Waugh breaks down the main talking points of tonight’s match…

Injuries lead to feel of the pre-takeover team

Newcastle really need this international break. Ideally, they could have done with it starting sooner.

Lewis Miley is a talented youngster — but the primary reason why the 17-year-old midfielder became Newcastle’s youngest-ever Premier League starter here is because they had 11 players unavailable to face Bournemouth. Nine were out due to injury, Sandro Tonali will not play again this season because of his gambling suspension and Bruno Guimaraes was serving a one-match suspension for picking up five Premier League bookings.

In for his first Premier League start… 🙌

Go well, @LewisMiley1! pic.twitter.com/GCigr8S5Uy

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 11, 2023

When Miguel Almiron was then forced off with a muscle problem in the 31st minute, he became the 10th injury absentee. Matt Ritchie, whose most recent top-flight start was in December 2021, came on, making it seven players who were at the club pre-takeover on the pitch together tonight — and as a further flashback to those days we had Joelinton returning to the position he was signed to play, as an emergency centre-forward.

Unfortunately, of the 10, only Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson and Sven Botman are likely to return when the club season resumes in a fortnight, so this injury crisis is far from over.

Away-day woes

Two defeats in four days is worrying, but, encouragingly, Newcastle are still alive in all three competitions.

While their Champions League campaign has stalled — realistically, they must win their final two matches in Group F to progress to the knockout phase — they are in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and are currently just three points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, who are at home against Brentford tomorrow, in the Premier League.

Still, their away form is concerning.

Although there was a historic victory at Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, Newcastle have failed to score in both Champions League matches on the road and has won just one in eight on their travels in the Premier League going back to last season (albeit, that one was September’s astonishing 8-0 triumph at Sheffield United).

Dominic Solanke has scored just his second Premier League brace, and his first in over three years (July 2020 vs. Leicester City) #BOUNEW pic.twitter.com/AKznOXJRW1

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 11, 2023

It has not helped that all four fixtures immediately following their Champions League games have been away, but clearly this stretched squad desperately requires January reinforcements.

A midfielder and a forward must be the priority, given Newcastle’s depleted stocks at those positions.

Striker light

It is little wonder Newcastle looked visibly shattered late on here, given the volume of absentees. But the lack of bodies was felt most keenly up front. Both their front line strikers, Wilson and Isak, were missing with respective hamstring and groin injuries.

When fit, those two are top-class finishers — with seven goals apiece already this season — but, aside from them, Newcastle lack natural goalscorers. Anthony Gordon’s versatility has proven invaluable and he can play as a makeshift No 9, already scoring four times in 10 league games this season, but he started centrally tonight and only managed nine touches in the first 25 minutes.

Howe brought Joelinton in from the left to deputise as a striker, the position for which he was initially signed four years ago and which he proved ill-suited before being reinvented as a midfielder, then brought teenager Ben Parkinson on for his senior debut with 25 minutes remaining.

Parkinson could not muster a goal (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

In fairness, none of them received much service, with creativity also lacking in Guimaraes’ absence. It is now seven Premier League matches Guimaraes has missed since he signed in January last year, and Newcastle haven’t won any of them.

That trio’s return will transform this side in attack.

What did Howe say?

On Almiron injury…

“It’s a hamstring problem,” Howe said. “I hope it’s not serious. We all hope that, but we don’t know at this moment in time quite how bad it is.”

On Callum Wilson…

“He won’t travel with England. He’s going to be out for a number of weeks.”

On Trippier being confronted by a fan at the end of the game…

No words.

Tripps looks foaming and rightly so. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/xgMc8D4P3a

— Toon Polls (@ToonPolls) November 11, 2023

“Kieran is fine. Emotions run high, we all feel a bit emotional after that from our perspective but there are no problems. We thank all our away support and we value them greatly. That will have been tough for them to watch today.”

What next for Newcastle?

Saturday, November 25: Chelsea (H), Premier League, 3pm GMT, 10am ET

How the tables have turned. Newcastle were once the ambitious club with expectant fans, seemingly trapped in a doom cycle as the footballing world watched on. Now it is Chelsea who are rebuilding after a chaotic first year under the Todd Boehly-led consortium.

Newcastle won 1-0 the last time these sides met at St James’ Park, but have only recorded two other victories over Chelsea in the past decade.