Newcastle United's Swedish winger #20 Anthony Elanga (L) has this shot saved during the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on August 16, 2025. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)placeholder image
Newcastle United's Swedish winger #20 Anthony Elanga (L) has this shot saved during the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on August 16, 2025. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP) | AFP via Getty Images
Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle United: Here’s how Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon, Anthony Elanga and co have fared at Villa Park.
Newcastle United are drawing 0-0 with Aston Villa in their Premier League opener at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.
Eddie Howe handed a full Newcastle debut to summer signing Anthony Elanga, while new arrivals Aaron Ramsdale, Malick Thiaw and 18-year-old Park Seung-soo were named on the bench.
Elanga had a chance to give Newcastle the lead inside three minutes but was denied by Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
Here are the half-time player ratings from the match...
Nick Pope - 6
Reacted well to come off his line when needed. Solid distribution bar the obligatory straight into the stands clearance.
Kieran Trippier - 6
Had a couple of shaky moments against the pace of Rogers, but often recovered well. Had several set-piece deliveries that didn’t lead to any chances.
Fabian Schar - 7
Put in an important challenge early on to start a Newcastle attack that led to Elanga’s chance. Beaten for pace by Morgan Rogers when dragged out of position. Blazed a shot over the bar before the half-hour mark.
Dan Burn - 7
Put in some good challenges and won some important headers. Stood up to the physical challenge and not caught out by Villa’s pace so far.
Tino Livramento - 6
An improvement on his last pre-season outing at left-back. Good energy and kept John McGinn relatively quiet.
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Sandro Tonali - 8
Won the ball back countless times to put Newcastle on the front foot. Picking up where he left off last season with an all action display.
Bruno Guimaraes - 6
A little clumsy in possession at times but was always showing for the ball under pressure. Better out of possession with his positional discipline.
Joelinton - 6
In and out of the game, trying to impose his physicality on Villa, but has had a quiet opening 45. Booked.
Anthony Elanga - 6
Had a golden opportunity to open his account just three minutes into his debut but was denied one-on-one by Marco Bizot in the Villa goal. Showed a great turn of pace, but should have done better with his finish. Dragged a volleyed effort wide 10 minutes later. Got several crosses away but couldn’t pick out a teammate. Heavily involved but lacked cutting-edge quality.
Harvey Barnes - 7
Put in a teasing ball for Gordon but the makeshift Newcastle forward couldn’t get a proper connection on it. Solid.
Anthony Gordon - 7
Headed well over from a Barnes cross. Forced a good stop from Bizot with a low drive from the edge of the box. Showed great work-rate to track back and challenge Tielemans, stopping a Villa counter-attack.
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