Nick Pope call & Newcastle United injury latest ahead of Everton clash
Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon hasn’t registered a Premier League goal or assist since January.
Gordon returned from two games out with a hip injury to start the Champions League defeat away to Marseille on Tuesday night.
With Nick Woltemade rested and no recognised striker to choose from with Yoane Wissa and Will Osula injured, Gordon was deployed as the central striker.
The 24-year-old has performed well in the Champions League this season with four goals in five games but his display at the Stade Velodrome was more like his Premier League form.
Gordon hasn’t registered a goal or assist in the league since January, whereas Harvey Barnes has more than staked his claim to start on the left wing with four goals in his last three games.
Eddie Howe makes Anthony Gordon admission
Reflecting on Gordon’s season so far, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted the England international has fallen short of his best levels.
Howe said: “Yeah, I think a little bit in and out really. I think he's had some really good games. I go back to the Benfica game, I think there was another game around that spell where I thought he was electric. I thought it was really good. One of his best games for us.
“And then of course, he had the sending off against Liverpool. He's had the hip injury, so I think it's been a bit bitty for him. No doubt he'll be looking to find his best form and we're trying to help him to get there. So I think that's where it is.”
How does Anthony Gordon get back to his best at Newcastle United?
So, how does Gordon, who won the club’s 2023-24 player of the season award, get back to his best?
“I think it's the same with any player, he has to train well,” Howe told NewcastleWorld. “The training performances of any player is an indicator of what they're going to do in the games.
“Now we have limited training time this year, so the individual development probably plays more then, because you're not sort of doing big team sessions, you're doing more small-based sessions and that individual work and that one-to-one work that development work is so important in any player.
“I think to find his goal scoring form again, it will come through that, it will come through repetition and being in the right positions. If you look at just Harvey's goals in recent weeks his positioning has been very good he's ended up with a different array of goals and sometimes you just need one to kick-start yourself.”
Anthony Gordon returns to Everton
Gordon has returned to Everton on three occasions since joining Newcastle for £45m in January 2023, with his last visit to Goodison Park seeing him miss a penalty in a goalless draw.
When asked if that will come into his thinking when selecting the team, Howe said: “No I think you judge it by form, you judge it by how the player's looking in this moment, not necessarily that it's his former club, or I don't tend to sort of look at it like that although sometimes that can be if you're absolutely 50-50 on a call that can sway you maybe one way or the other.
“Yeah, of course, I know his history with Everton and know how he feels.”
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