Newcastle United will face West Ham in the Premier League this evening, and there has been growing concern about the potential of Joelinton getting suspended.
The Magpies return to Premier League action this season for their first fixture of the week in the capital, with the Carabao Cup final ahead of them following their clash with West Ham United.
Tonight’s top-flight tie will be important for the Magpies in their ambitions to not only qualify for European football this season, but take a Champions League spot with the race for top four open all the way down to tenth at the moment.
Taking all three points away from the London Stadium this evening would put Newcastle back in a strong position to compete as they will match Manchester City in fifth for points tallied with a game in hand as they play Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday ahead of the international break.
Indeed, the game tonight will be important in the club’s dreams of Europe for next season, but the upcoming final at Wembley Stadium later on this week will be on every single Newcastle fan’s mind.
Anthony Gordon, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall have all been ruled out of the clash, with the defensive duo due to undergo surgery after suffering long-term injury issues, while Gordon misses out due to suspension.
The talented English winger saw red when he shoved Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke in the FA Cup fifth round clash, serving the first of his three-game ban tonight at the London Stadium – a devastating blow to Newcastle’s attacking threat.
Now it has been flagged that midfield powerhouse Joelinton could also serve a ban for accumulating too many yellow cards, which has rightly sparked widespread concern about his involvement tonight ahead of the cup final.
However, Newcastle fans need not fret in the immediate as a yellow card booking against the Hammers would not result in Joelinton’s absence in the cup final and would instead apply to the Premier League fixtures next month.
Only a red card suspension would result in a ban for the clash with Liverpool, so as long as the fiery Brazilian is on his best behaviour it won’t be a problem, however, Eddie Howe has addressed the situation.
Speaking his pre-match press conference ahead of West Ham, the Newcastle boss told the media:
“Yeah, unfortunately for Joey, he’s a very competitive player. He’s always on the line, I’d say, in terms of that side, but you need players like that in your squad.”
“We’d be desperately disappointed after losing him to injury, to lose him for two games, but hopefully he can control himself like the last time he was on the precipice of a ban. I think he went a number of games without getting booked, so fingers crossed he can do the same.”
What would a suspension mean for Joelinton?
Although the St James’ Park faithful will be sighing with relief that their midfield maestro will be available for the final, if he did pick up a yellow card tonight he would face a two-match ban in the top-flight fixtures following.
This means the Brazil international – hailed a “revelation” by former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell – would miss Brentford at home on the 2nd of April and away to Leicester City on the 7th April, which would not be ideal at all given how tight the Premier League is right now for a spot in European football – every league game is must win at this stage of the season.
To avoid suspension altogether, Joelinton would need to get through West Ham (A), Brentford (H), Leicester City (A), Manchester United (H), and Crystal Palace (H) after which the yellow card threshold will reset.