Joelinton must lead the way against Brighton

Newcastle United will host Brighton this weekend and they need Joelinton to perform at an elite level against a mediocre opponent at home.

After suffering an expected defeat away to Liverpool over the weekend, Newcastle United now have their eyes set on Brighton. The Seagulls have been playing decent football under their new manager Graham Potter, but they will come to St. James’ Park as slight underdogs. The Magpies will be motivated this weekend as they hope to claim their first home victory of the season, and they know they need all three points seeing that positive results will be difficult to come by in October.

For a team like Newcastle United, maximum effort as a collective unit is always the primary key to success regardless of how strong or weak the opposition is. However, on Saturday, all eyes will be on Joelinton. The club’s most expensive signing needs to step up and show that he can dominate and cause several problems in front of goal against a bottom-half club.

Expectations for Joelinton

One goal from Joelinton on Saturday would be nice, but two would be great. We are all cutting the Brazilian striker some slack as a result of Newcastle United playing Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool – two of them away – in their first five games of the season. The Magpies were ultra defensive in those games and Joelinton was isolated up top. Despite being isolated in most games, Joelinton showed that he is capable of scoring against top top teams, but he has only created ten chances, with only three of shots being target.

Brighton have one of the weakest back-lines in the Premier League. Over the last two seasons, the Seagulls have conceded 114 goals and they have already conceded eight goals this season. This is a perfect game for Joelinton to show his worth and score a few goals. He needs to be more vocal in calling for the ball, constantly look for gaps in Brighton’s defense and hit the target when chances comes his way.

The better Joelinton performs, the better the result for Newcastle United. It really is that simple. After paying £40m for his services this summer, we should be expecting Joelinton to score at least one goal in most games against mediocre, bottom-half opponents, especially at home.

Prediction: Joelinton will score against Brighton this weekend.