· 9 August 2025, 20:00
**Newcastle United's pre-season preparations looked to take another huge hit as the Magpies crumbled to another defeat, this time at the hands of Atletico Madrid.**
The defeat and the disappointing performance in front of goal yet again were bad enough, but with around 10 minutes to go, Anthony Gordon pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury and had to be taken off.
Newcastle are already struggling massively when it comes to having someone to lead the line, with Eddie Howe saying he is unable to select Alexander Isak, who seems to have effectively gone on strike to force a move to Liverpool.
Will Osula has led the line for much of the pre-season, but not only did he not notch a goal, he rarely ever even looked like he would, although that's not a problem exclusive to him, to be fair.
> [](https://twitter.com/CraigHope_DM/status/1954235983148335278)
It was expected that Anthony "Clearly not a centre-forward" Gordon would play up front against Aston Villa next week, but when he pulled up hurt this afternoon, that started to look very unlikely.
Fortunately, Eddie Howe doesn't believe it will be much of a problem, telling reporters that it's an ankle injury and he should be fine.
> "We hope he’s ok. It's an ankle problem. We initially thought it was a muscle. The good news is it's just a twist. The initial feeling is that he should be OK"
As far as Newcastle United news goes this summer, that's about as good as it gets.
Craig Hope has reported that he expects Yoane Wissa to be a Newcastle player before the start of the season, too, but like Isak, he hasn't been training fully, so it's unlikely he'd be ready to jump straight in for Eddie Howe even if he does sign.
Whoever it is playing through the middle next week will need better service from the wide men and more support from midfield, as once we get into the final third, we seem to forget what it is we're doing. Strikers can't score if they're not being handed the opportunities, and that's what needs to be worked on this week at Darsley Park.