Newcastle United's Joelinton faces a two-game suspension
Joelinton of Newcastle United pushes Granit Xhaka and Lutsharel Geertruida of Sunderland back to their half to restart the game
View Image
Newcastle United could welcome back a host of players when they return to Premier League action on Sunday with a trip to Crystal Palace.
It will have been a three-week break between fixtures for Eddie Howe's Magpies. The international fortnight came at probably just the right time for United as they looked to reset after damaging defeats at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League and then Sunderland in a disastrous Tyne-Wear derby.
That result left Newcastle floundering in 12th position in the Premier League table with seven games left, and facing a huge fight to qualify again for Europe next season.
What the break has done, however, is allow several players to rest after a gruelling schedule and key trio Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis Miley and Fabian Schar to work their way back to fitness after injuries.
Guimaraes and Miley will add depth to Newcastle's midfield which was overran and powder puff in the derby. Sandro Tonali also missed that game with a hip injury but has since played twice for Italy in World Cup playoffs.
If the trio all come through training this week, it will mean extra options for Howe, alongside Joelinton, Jacob Ramsey and Joe Willock.
Joelinton was pictured on holiday during the international break, having not been selected by the Brazilian national team. The powerhouse midfielder has been struggling with a toe injury and will benefitted from the rest.
Howe now faces a decision over whether to play the 30-year-old against Palace, especially given Joelinton is on the brink of a two-game suspension.
Newcastle only picked up one yellow card in the derby clash at St James' Park, and it was Joelinton. He was shown a booking for an altercation with Sunderland players after Brian Brobbey's injury-time winner as Newcastle looked to get the game restarted as quickly as possible. Brobbey was also booked for removing his shirt as tempers flared.
It was Joelinton’s ninth booking of the Premier League season. Another yellow card would see him banned for two matches for meeting the threshold. Players who receive 10 bookings by the 32nd game of the season get a two-game suspension.
Newcastle's clash against Crystal Palace on Sunday is their 32nd league game of the season, meaning the Brazilian needs to just avoid a yellow card in that fixture before the threshold resets to 15 bookings. Howe will be aware of the situation and while he may want to return to his famed midfield trio of Tonali, Guimaraes and Joelinton for the Selhurst Park game, he will have one eye on the suspension concern.
Content Image
Content Image
Get Chronicle Premium now for just £1HERE– exclusive news and features, our NUFC and Academy notebooks, John Gibson's columns plus an ad-lite experience
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest NUFC news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.
And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Everything is Black and White podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.