Howe must drop Newcastle flop who gave away the ball 20 times vs Palace

Heading into the final 20 minutes of action at St James’ Park, it looked as if Newcastle United and Crystal Palace were destined to play out a drab 0-0 stalemate in the Premier League.

However, as has often been the case this season, Bruno Guimaraes delivered the goods for the Toon yet again when his team desperately needed a hero, with the talismanic Brazilian in the right place at the right time to nod home the opener.

Malick Thiaw then made sure of all three points when scrambling home the game-clincher from a late corner kick, as both Guimaraes and the Dusseldorf-born defender continue to have exceptional seasons on Tyneside.

But, it wasn’t all rosy for the hosts during the relatively straightforward 2-0 win, as some of Howe’s first team also struggled to get going against Oliver Glasner’s Eagles.

Newcastle’s best and worst performers vs Palace

It would be wrong not to also mention Lewis Miley’s standout performance against Palace, before delving deeper into those who underperformed, with the teenage sensation rightly hailed as one of Howe’s “best performers” at the moment by journalist Martin Hardy, completing 100% of his passes at St James’ Park.

One of those passes would result in Guimaraes breaking the deadlock, and with nine duels also won, the 19-year-old will now want to nail down a starting spot in Howe’s main side, from a makeshift right-back position.

Yoane Wissa won’t feel so confident about his chances of remaining in the starting XI, however, with the ex-Brentford striker a quiet presence throughout, mustering up only one shot all afternoon, from a paltry 13 touches of the ball.

Moreover, Sandro Tonali’s noticeable drop in standards continued against Palace, with the Italian losing possession 13 times.

He also failed to be as energetic as a revitalised Joelinton in the middle of the park, who won a valiant eight duels himself. In contrast, Tonali only won four of his 12 attempted duels.

Podcast host Taylor Payne would even take to social media to call out Tonali’s “sloppy” approach on the ball, as a usual starter under Howe appears to be on ever-increasing shaky ground regarding his concrete spot.

He isn’t the only stalwart at St James’ Park becoming more fearful by the match for his long-term position in the starting ranks, however.

5/10 Newcastle star must be dropped

It’s been a sorry regression for Tonali in the first team over the past couple of matches, with his usual desire to win tackles bravely and pass the ball effortlessly not on show against Manchester United or Burnley, either.

Similarly, Jacob Murphy hasn’t quite been at his best for a while, now, having been in “the form of his life” earlier in the season in the words of Newcastle-based blog Mouth of the Tyne.

Looking back, this was slight hyperbole, but at the start of the campaign, Murphy was regularly in amongst the goals, with two goals and three assists coming his way during the early stages of the season.

Recently, though, the 30-year-old hasn’t looked up to speed with the rest of his teammates, as the Newcastle veteran’s goalless stretch in the side has now hit 12 straight clashes, after another unmemorable showing on Sunday.

Worryingly, Murphy trudged off at the end of the 2-0 success with more offside calls going against him than shots registered at the opposition goal.

To further add insult to injury, the 5-foot-10 attacker also gave away possession a costly 20 times, only completed one dribble, and won just one duel from five attempts, with Howe putting him out of his misery rather late into the contest, when Joe Willock was given a run-out.

Unsurprisingly, Murphy was on the receiving end of a low 5/10 post-match rating from Newcastle World’s Jordan Cronin, who simply stated that the ageing forward was “not at the races” for the majority of the match.

Against Leeds, Howe could test Anthony Elanga out on the right again, in place of the ex-Norwich City attacker, with Murphy going down as one rare low point from Newcastle’s second successive Premier League win.

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