Howe in grave danger of ruining £80k-p/w NUFC monster who's a "student of the game" - opinion

A big update has emerged over Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton’s injury situation…

Magpies coach Eddie Howe has revealed that the Brazilian powerhouse is a major doubt to face Everton in the Premier League tonight.

Joelinton has not played a competitive minute since the 2-1 win over Brighton on the 5th of March, missing the 2-1 win over Southampton and the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last time out at Stamford Bridge.

The club quotes Howe as saying: “He is touch and go for this game. We have a decision to make. Whether we look after him with the break we have afterwards or whether we push him back out there – we’ll have to make a late call on that one.”

Howe must avoid playing the midfielder against Everton as he is in grave danger of ruining the £80k-per-week machine’s resurgence at St. James’ Park.

On the one hand, you could argue that it is worth the risk because of the importance of the match. A win would send them 12 points clear of the bottom three as they equal 18th-placed Watford’s number of games played, whilst also condemning the Toffees to another defeat and knocking their confidence down another peg or two.

This would all but secure Newcastle’s safety as it seems unlikely that Watford and Everton will amass 12 points more than the Magpies in the final nine games of the campaign. Both teams would have 22 points after 29 and 27 matches respectively, which means that they would have to jump from less than a point per game to more than a point per game – with no evidence to suggest that they will do that as it stands.

On the other hand, Howe is risking further damage to Joelinton and ruining the end of the campaign for him, which would be a major blow. Whilst it may not have much of a bearing on this season, with