Time's up: Howe must brutally axe "passive" NUFC lightweight who lost 70% of his duels - opinion

Newcastle return to Premier League action tonight against Everton as they look to make it back-to-back wins in the top-flight.

The Magpies beat Leeds 1-0 in their last outing in January and now come up against Frank Lampard’s Toffees on Tuesday night at St. James’ Park.

Eddie Howe’s squad has been bolstered since their previous match, with Matt Targett, Dan Burn and Bruno Guimaraes coming in, but what changes will he make to the side?

One player who must be brutally axed from the XI is central midfielder Joe Willock. His time is up and he must be placed on the bench for this clash as he has been underwhelming throughout the campaign, putting in another below-par showing against the Whites.

As per SofaScore, he lost 70% (7/10) of his individual duels in the match and failed with three of his five dribble attempts. In 90 minutes on the pitch, he made one tackle and zero clearances, interceptions or blocks, showing that he was disappointing from a physical and defensive standpoint.

Willock has struggled all season and has not made up for his lack of strength in the middle of the park by being a threat in the final third. In 17 Premier League matches, he has scored zero goals and created just 12 chances (zero big chances) – registering zero assists.

This means that he is far too weak out of possession and lacking in quality when he has the chance to get on the ball to make things happen. That is a far cry from the eight-goal Willock Newcastle fans watched in the second-half of the 2020/21 campaign.

Freddie Ljungberg previously dubbed Willock as “passive” whilst the midfielder was playing for the Gunners and the lightweight’s statistics this season suggest that the retired Swedish international’s choice of word was apt. He