Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale of Newcastle United arrive at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park on September 13, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale of Newcastle United arrive at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park on September 13, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Everton v Newcastle United team news: Eddie Howe has made six changes to his side for the Premier League visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Goalkeeper Nick Pope has dropped out of the side completely following his mistake in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Marseille. Pope’s place in the Newcastle side was a big talking point ahead of the game but now Howe has made the decision to hand Aaron Ramsdale his full Premier League debut.
John Ruddy has been named on the bench in Pope’s absence.
Eddie Howe on Newcastle United team selection
A big talking point of Friday’s press conference was Newcastle’s goalkeeper situation with Howe facing numerous questions about the decision to make between Pope and Ramsdale.
The questions came after growing calls from supporters for a change of goalkeeper after several goal-costing mistakes from Pope.
"Of course I respect the supporters' opinions but ultimately I am paid to do the job,” Howe said. “Alone, I must wrestle with my thoughts.
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"There is never a clear 100% to zero decision, there is always counter-thoughts and processes that I go through.
"It is never easy. You are dealing with good players on many different levels in different positions.
"So while I acknowledge the supporters' opinion, I don't know [what has been said, because I don't tend to go there.
"Because then my decision-making will be swayed, so I have to stay true to myself."
Ramsdale joined Newcastle from Southampton on loan in the summer with an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season for around £20million.
But the former Arsenal goalkeeper had been limited to just two Carabao Cup starts and an emergency substitute appearance in the Premier League before coming into the starting line-up at Everton.
The official reason Nick Pope is out v Everton
Although few would have argued with the decision to drop Pope to the bench in place of Ramsdale at Everton, the official reason given by the club for Pope’s absence on Merseyside is ‘injury’.
There was no injury reported after the Marseille defeat or ahead of the game by Howe, who said on Friday: “Nothing major I don't think from the game. We'll obviously have a good look at the lads today. We've got Sven Botman who's been nursing a bit of a back problem the last few days. Yeah, apart from that I think we're the same.”
Six changes made by NUFC
In addition to Pope, Jacob Murphy, Fabian Schar, Sandro Tonali, Joe Willock, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy have also dropped out of the starting line-up from the Marseille match. But unlike Pope, all those players have been named on the bench.
Sven Botman also drops out after his back issue.
Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Lewis Miley, Joelinton, Anthony Elanga and Nick Woltemade have all come into the side.
NUFC XI v Everton: Ramsdale; Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Miley, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Elanga, Barnes, Woltemade
Subs: Ruddy, Schar, Tonali, Gordon, J.Murphy, Willock, A.Murphy, Ramsey, Neave
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