Newcastle faced Aston Villa in their Premier League opener at Villa Park, playing out a goalless draw. The lineup matched our earlier predictions, though we expected Eddie Howe’s men to come out on top which wasn’t the case.
Unsurprisingly, Alexander Isak was absent from the squad. Beyond that, the match offered several other talking points. Here are the three key takeaways from Newcastle’s draw against Aston Villa.
Anthony Gordon started over William Osula in the centre-forward role
It’s now well-known that Alexander Isak is pushing for a summer exit. He has been training separately from the squad, and some reports have even suggested that the Swedish striker has refused to play for Newcastle. As a result, Eddie Howe had to tweak his attacking setup.
Gordon was deployed as the central striker, preferred over Osula, who is the only natural centre-forward currently available to the manager. With the 24-year-old shifted to the striker role, Harvey Barnes was deployed on the left wing, while new signing Anthony Elanga was handed his official debut on the right. Whether this setup becomes the norm in upcoming matches remains to be seen, especially with the club still searching for a new striker.
Tino Livramento preferred at left-back despite Lewis Hall’s return to fitness
On Saturday, Livramento was present in the starting lineup, but not at his primary right-back position. Instead, he played at left-back, where he had featured during the final quarter of last season following Hall’s absence. Meanwhile, Kieran Trippier was entrusted at the right full-back area.
Hall, who initially joined on loan from Chelsea in 2023 before making the move permanent in 2024, impressed during the first half of last season, making 34 appearances. However, after undergoing ankle surgery in February, this year, Howe seems to be taking a cautious approach with the youngster’s return and giving him enough time to ease back into the squad. In the coming few matchdays, it is expected that Hall will return to the left flank, with Livramento back to his natural right-back position.
Newcastle’s struggles in finding the net against Aston Villa
According to Sofascore, Newcastle shot a total of 16 times against Aston Villa. One would think that it’s a really good number, which is true to some extent. But wait until you see the number of shots on target, which is a mere three. Notably, Aston Villa were down to 10 men from the 66th minute, following Konsa receiving a straight red for his challenge on Gordon, pulling him from behind and denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity. However, the Magpies failed to capitalise on the advantage of an extra man.
The lack of a prolific finisher up front for Newcastle was clearly visible at Villa Park. Despite the Magpies dominating possession and almost every other aspect of the game, they ended up with just one point from the matchup which is unfortunate but also serves as a wake-up call for the club management to bring in a new striker as soon as possible.
Newcastle will face Liverpool next at St James’ Park. While fans would hope for nothing less than a win, it will be a difficult task to pull off against the defending Premier League champions. Let’s see if Howe makes some changes to his plans for that matchup to address the shortcomings from Villa Park or opts for the same setup.