· 13 November 2025, 11:30
Newcastle United aren't having much luck with injuries this season. It seems there's a new issue to deal with after each game lately.
Following the defeat at Brentford, Newcastle had lost Nick Pope to a concussion and £40 million midfielder Joelinton had also been hooked after receiving a nasty gash to his leg in a challenge with Dango Ouattara.
Joelinton had picked up a few knocks during the game as the man once described by Steve Howey as a 'bully' was clearly targeted for termination by the Brentford players.
While there was no malice behind Outarra's challenge, it was still nasty nonetheless, with his studs up high into Joelinton's knee before scraping down his shin.
Advertisement
0 JS387285255 1
Getty Images
Owwww!
Joelinton could recover from his nasty challenge in time to face Manchester City
Thankfully, The Chronicle have reported today that there's confidence at the club that Joelinton will recover in time to be fit to face Manchester City a week on Saturday.
After the game, Eddie Howe wasn't fully aware of the extent of Joelinton's injury when he met reporters.
"Joelinton, I'm not sure, it looked like a knock, but it was obviously enough for him to go off. I haven't had a full discussion or debrief from the medical team on him. He was a big miss today."
Advertisement
If Joelinton isn't 100% fit, then we shouldn't even entertain the idea of starting him against City
While it can't really be said with any degree of certainty how much Joelinton's exit affected the direction of the game against Brentford, it will definitely have had an impact.
For us, though, as with Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and every other player who has been thrown onto the field when they aren't 100%, if Joelinton is still feeling any pain, he shouldn't start a week on Saturday.
Eddie Howe needs to stop picking favourites and pick players who are fully fit and can put in the shift required.