Howe must now unleash Newcastle’s “baller” alongside Harvey Barnes

The English head coach looks set to be forced to make at least one change to the starting XI that lined up on Tyneside in their last match, given the latest injury news.

Latest Chelsea vs Newcastle injury news

After suffering an injury, England international Kieran Trippier, who started against Wolves, will not be available for selection in London this evening.

Due to a calf issue, the former Atletico Madrid player had to leave the game against the Old Gold early in the second half. As a result, the right-back will not be available for Chelsea’s match.

Lewis Hall, on the other hand, is not allowed to play against his parent club, therefore he will not be getting ready for action tonight. Due to chronic ailments, Nick Pope, Joelinton, and Callum Wilson will also be forced to watch from the sidelines.

However, Mauricio Pochettino’s side is not alone in dealing with injury concerns, as Newcastle will not be able to call upon a number of his first-team stars.

Conor Gallagher is doubtful due to illness, while Carney Chukwuemeka, Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, and Christopher Nkunku are still sidelined due to their separate knocks.

Ben Chilwell and Levi Colwill, who both started the Blues’ most recent match against Brentford, have been ruled out of Sunday matchup with the Magpies, dealing the team two more injury blows.

Due to Chilwell’s absence and Colwill’s ability to fill in, Pochettino will have to use Marc Cucurella, who hasn’t played a minute of meaningful football since December 10th against Everton, or play Malo Gusto out of position at left defense on his weaker foot.

Now, Howe needs to use Livramento at right-back to take advantage of Chelsea’s possible weakness down their left side..

Why Harvey Barnes should start over Jacob Murphy

Despite his team’s easy victory over Wolves, the former Norwich City player struggled throughout the game, starting on the right wing.

In his 70 minutes on the field for the Magpies, Murphy only completed 55% (11/20) of his passes tried and did not create a single opportunity for his teammates.

The 29-year-old attacker, who was also unsuccessful in scoring, did not perform well when in possession, giving Wolves players the upper hand in five of their eight duels with the winger.

In all competitions, he has already gone nine games without scoring or dishing out an assist, which does not imply that the attacker is likely to be a difference-maker against the Blues tonight.

In order to provide more of a danger at the top of the pitch, Barnes—who has only scored one goal in his previous five Premier League games—should be put in for him.

The table above illustrates how the former Leicester City wizard stood out last season with 14 goal contributions in 34 top-flight outings for the Foxes, compared to Murphy’s six in 36 games.

These figures, together with their recent performance, indicate that Barnes could be able to provide a higher caliber of play on the right wing than the lifelong Newcastle fan in order to capitalize on Chelsea’s left-back problems.

Howe must also unleash Livramento at right-back to create an overlap danger in addition to the English forward in order to make life easier for Cucurella or Gusto as difficult as possible.

The stats that show why Livramento should start

The former Chelsea academy star is a dynamic full-back who has the engine, determination, and quality to push on and support Barnes in the final third.

Those qualities were on full display in the 90th minute against Wolves as he powered his way into the box before nudging the ball into the bottom corner for his first goal for Newcastle.

After being praised as a “baller” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, the 21-year-old defender has only contributed one assist in 29 games for the Magpies this year.

It is important to remember that he has only made seven Premier League starts and that he is frequently used—a departure from his natural position—as a left-back.

The young dynamo has nevertheless demonstrated talent in possession as seen by his rankings in the top 28% of full-backs in the division for shot-creating actions (2.24) per 90 and the top 14% for advanced carries (2.95) per 90 this season.

Livramento has the ability to be a very creative right-back or wing-back, as seen by his Chelsea youth statistics, which are displayed in the table above.

Howe needs to replace Trippier with a naturally right-footed player to take advantage of Chelsea’s left-back problems, as neither Colwill nor Chilwell will be available for the hosts to play tonight.

Depending on who Pochettino chooses, Livramento and Barnes could use their direct play and attacking threat to consistently pose a threat to Gusto or Cucurella and possibly win the game for Newcastle in that crucial duel on the field.

In lieu of Murphy, who had a dismal performance against Wolves last time out, and Trippier, who was pulled out due to injury, the head coach must unleash both of them down the right side.

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