Newcastle United injury news: Eddie Howe has been handed another injury blow as Jacob Murphy is substituted against Manchester City.
Newcastle United have been handed yet another injury worry after Jacob Murphy was forced off during the first-half of their clash with Manchester City at St James’ Park.
Eddie Howe made seven changes to his starting XI from Saturday’s clash with Bournemouth for the first-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final with just Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman, Yoane Wissa and Jacob Ramsey keeping their place. Nick Pope returned in goal in place of Aaron Ramsdale, whilst Lewis Miley and Lewis Hall flanked Thiaw and Botman in defence.
And it was also a new-look front-three with Murphy and Anthony Gordon either side of central striker Wissa. Murphy, to his credit, looked Newcastle United’s most threatening attacking option during the first period, getting in behind Nathan Ake time and time again.
A couple of threatening crosses weren’t put away by his teammates, though, as the Magpies and Citizens headed into the break level with the score goalless. However, Murphy would head down the tunnel a couple of minutes earlier than his teammates after limping off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
The former Norwich City man had been struggling for a couple of minutes with the injury but attempted to continue playing. However, when the visitors were awarded a corner in the final minute of the first 45, Murphy sat down to receive treatment.
He was eventually replaced by Harvey Barnes who, surprisingly, was part of the seven changes made by Howe. Barnes has scored four goals in his last two outings and netted a brace in Newcastle’s 2-1 win over the Citizens back in November.
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Barnes’ first actions were to help his side defend three successive corners for the visitors before Chris Kavanagh blew for half-time. Barnes then spent the first part of the break going through warm-ups with members of the coaching staff before joining his teammates in the dressing room.
Newcastle United injury list
Worryingly, Murphy becomes the latest in a long line of injury concerns that Howe now has to deal with. The winger was a doubt heading into the clash with the Citizens, having missed out entirely at the weekend.
Murphy’s omission against Bournemouth was put down to fatigue by his head coach as they took a cautious approach to a muscle injury he had been struggling with over the prior few weeks. Dan Burn, who was a guest in the Sky Sports studio pre-match, is still a few weeks away from returning to action whilst Fabian Schar is set for an extended period on the sidelines.
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Tino Livramento has also been ruled-out of action for around eight weeks after he picked up a hamstring injury during Saturday’s FA Cup win. Emil Krafth and Will Osula, meanwhile, also remain sidelined with no timescale placed on their respective returns.
There was good news for Howe pre-match, though, as he was able to recall Anthony Elanga to his matchday squad for the first time in 2026. The Swedish international hadn’t featured for the Magpies since their draw with Chelsea in December.
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