75% duels lost: NUFC liability who gave the ball away every 2.6 touches "looked lost" - opinion

Newcastle United found themselves on the wrong end of a drubbing as they lost 5-1 to Tottenham away from home on Sunday.

It was a third straight Premier League defeat for Eddie Howe’s side as they were swept away by Antonio Conte’s electric Spurs team.

Fabian Schar’s well-hit free-kick had given the Magpies a shock lead in the match, but goals from Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Emerson Royal, Steven Bergwijn and Heung-Min Son ensured that they came away with all three points.

A number of players struggled for Howe as Tottenham dismantled their defence time and time again throughout the 90 minutes. One player who let the head coach down badly was central midfielder Joelinton.

The 25-year-old, who has come on leaps and bounds under the ex-Cherries boss, was a liability in the middle of the park and failed to showcase his best qualities.

Dion Dublin previously claimed that the Brazilian “looked lost” earlier in his Magpies career and those struggles reared their ugly head again as he put in a worrying performance for the club against Spurs.

He lasted 59 minutes on the pitch before Howe decided to take him out of the game, as he was unable to make a positive impact at either end of the pitch.

Off the ball, he was a lightweight for the Toon. As per SofaScore, he lost 75% (6/8) of his individual battles and only made one tackle. He did not make a single clearance, interception, or block, whilst committing two fouls.

This shows that he could not keep up with the physicality of the game as the Spurs players were able to dominate him on that side of the game. The £80k-per-week dud needed to be stronger in his duels to get Newcastle on the front foot and was unable to do so.

He also did little in possession. As per SofaScore, he lost