Possession lost 22x: "Frustrating" NUFC liability with 63% passing let Howe down badly - opinion

Newcastle were sent heading into the international break off the back of two straight defeats in the Premier League as they lost 1-0 to Everton on Thursday.

Alex Iwobi scored the only goal of the game in a controversial match at Goodison Park, with the attacker rolling the ball into the back of the net after a one-two with Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened up the Magpies’ defence.

The clash was marred by a pitch invader during the second half as the intruder successfully ziplocked himself to the goalpost and kept himself there for around eight minutes before the stewards were able to dismount him from the woodwork.

There was also a lengthy stoppage for VAR to decide whether or not Everton’s Allan committed a red card offence on Allan Saint-Maximin. The referee was eventually advised to watch the incident back and duly gave the Brazilian his marching orders.

Newcastle were unable to capitalise on playing against 10 men, and one of the players who let Howe down badly on the night was right-back Emil Krafth. He was selected ahead of Javier Manquillo but failed to justify that decision as he put in a weak display.

As you can see in the graphic below, the Sweden international put in a concerning performance as he struggled in a number of aspects.

From these statistics, provided by SofaScore, he was underwhelming on and off the ball as he failed to provide any quality for the team throughout the game and was a liability for the Toon.

The Athletic’s Chris Waugh dubbed him and Miguel Almiron on the right as “frustrating” at half-time because of their poor play in possession throughout the first 45 minutes. The 27-year-old’s performance after the interval did not make up for it as he continued to struggle, with his overall statistics