Fewer touches than Dubravka: Newcastle's £72k-p/w passenger went missing in LCFC win - opinion

Newcastle United striker Chris Wood cut an anonymous figure as the northeast giants secured a dramatic, last-gasp 2-1 victory over Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.

The Magpies’ winter signing Bruno Guimaraes headed home a fortune cross from Joe Willock in stoppage time to move further clear of the drop zone and it was his second of the game as he cancelled out Ademola Lookman’s opener on the half-hour mark.

Barring any late collapse, Eddie Howe’s side are surely safe and secure, but for all of the positives at St James’ Park, the performance from the New Zealand talisman is surely cause for concern as his barren spell in front of goal continued.

After United splashed out on his £20m release clause, the 30-year-old has scored only two goals across 13 appearances and the Foxes win was another reminder of his ineffectiveness when not playing to his strengths.

As per SofaScore, Wood registered the fewest touches of any starting member of either team, managing only 16 across 69 minutes on the pitch – even goalkeepers Martin Dubravka (31) and Kasper Schmeichel (36) managed more.

His lack of involvement as the Magpies’ lowest-rated player on the day meant that he saw just one shot all game and it was off target. By comparison, match-winner Guimaraes had four shots on target by himself.

Wood also managed only five passes from his 12 attempts, meaning he misplaced the ball 58% of this time, on top of losing possession eight times (50% of his touches), which is rather appalling.

Newcastle World described the frontman as having a “quiet afternoon” in their post-match ratings column, whilst The Sheids Gazette claimed he “failed to threaten in front of goal.”

The £72k-per-week striker, who has previously been described as