As Newcastle United get set to face Liverpool in the League Cup final, the Magpies will likely be missing a few key players.
Anthony Gordon is suspended for the game after being sent off against Brighton and Hove Albion, while Lewis Hall will miss the rest of the season having suffered a foot injury against Liverpool in February.
The long-term loss of the full-back, in particular, will provide a real headache for manager Eddie Howe...
Lewis Hall's major injury blow
Hall featured in all but one of Newcastle’s matches this season before the foot injury sidelined him until the 2025/26 campaign.
Lewis Hall in action vs Man City's Savinho
The 20-year-old was one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League for the Magpies this term. Indeed, he created five big chances, averaging 1.3 key passes per game while succeeding with 61% of his dribble attempts, proving to be a key component of the side going forward.
The youngster also won 54% of his total duels per game and made 2.1 tackles each match for the club in the top flight, and he will be a huge miss for Howe.
Matt Targett is the obvious replacement for him at left-back, but did Howe sell an upgrade on the 29-year-old during the January transfer window? A player who didn’t really get a chance at the club during the first half of the season.
Newcastle already sold the perfect Hall replacement
Targett has played just four times for the Toon this term, with only one of those coming in the Premier League.
Due to Hall’s injury, however, he could find himself slotted into the starting XI between now and the end of the campaign.
Targett-Newcastle-Premier-League
Injury issues plagued him last season too, playing just seven games for the St James’ Park side in all competitions.
Howe allowed Lloyd Kelly to move to Juventus in January on an initial loan deal, before the Serie A club have an obligation to pay £20m to make the deal permanent this summer.
Kelly made just 14 appearances for the Toon before leaving, but he has already played six times for Juventus.
Hailed by former manager Gary O’Neil as “incredible”, the English defender can either play centre-back or left-back and would have solved the crisis Howe is now undergoing by slotting into the space vacated by Hall.
Lloyd Kelly's PL statistics for Newcastle (Per 90)
Accurate passes
Tackles
Total duels won
Interceptions
Ball recoveries
Touches
Via Sofascore
Across his three Serie A games for the Italian giants, Kelly has averaged a pass success rate of 88%, while keeping two clean sheets, recovering four balls per game and winning 4.7 total duels per game.
An impressive array of statistics given he was thrown into the deep end in Serie A. Howe must regret moving him on during the winter window, although he wasn’t expecting Hall to miss the remainder of the season due to injury.
lloyd-kelly
Targett must now come into the side and perform well, especially if Newcastle want to stand any chance of winning the League Cup, claiming their first major domestic honour in nearly 70 years in the process.
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