Newcastle United injury news: Eddie Howe has confirmed his side have suffered a major injury blow ahead of their clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
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Newcastle United have arrived in South Korea as preparations for a new season continue. A brief trip to Singapore last week ended in defeat when they were beaten 3-2 by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal on Sunday.
Goals from Anthony Elanga and Jacob Murphy were not enough to overcome the Gunners, with former Magpie Mikel Merino scoring against his old club with Martin Odegaard’s late penalty earning Arsenal the victory. Although that was their second defeat of pre-season, there were a lot of positives to take from the game as Newcastle United put in a much better performance than they had eight days prior against Celtic.
However, the Magpies did leave Singapore with a major worry. The fitness of Sven Botman.
Eddie Howe issues Sven Botman injury update
After starting against Celtic in Glasgow, Botman started Sunday’s game on the bench with Dan Burn partnering Jamaal Lascelles in the heart of defence. The Dutchman was introduced to the game at half-time as Howe reshuffled his back line to a five at the back formation.
Emil Krafth, Fabian Schar and Botman played in the middle of that defence, with Tino Livramento and Matt Targett acting as wing backs. The trio were relatively quiet as they repelled much of Arsenal’s attacking thrust with ease.
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However, Botman limped off the pitch in the 70th minute in a substitution that came as a surprise to many watching. The 25-year-old didn’t receive medical attention on the pitch, but was seen to by the medical department after being replaced by Harrison Ashby.
It was revealed post-match that Botman had suffered a groin injury, although claims that it was anything serious were quickly dismissed by his teammates and head coach. Asked for an update on the defender on Tuesday, Howe confirmed that he hadn’t suffered a ‘serious injury’ but that he would definitely miss Wednesday’s game and is a doubt to feature against Spurs at the weekend: “We didn’t think it was a serious injury at the time and we've had that confirmed with a scan,” Howe admitted.
“He won’t play tomorrow (v K League XI). He could play against Tottenham on Sunday, but possibly not. We hope he’ll be available for the double header at St James’ Park.”
Howe could name a much rotated team for his side’s clash against a K-League XI in Suwon on Wednesday with a number of unused substitutes from Sunday’s clash against Arsenal potentially being handed an opportunity to impress. Those players include new signing Seung-soo Park who joined the club from Suwon Bluewings last week.
Following their outing on Wednesday, Howe’s side will then have four days to rest before they face Tottenham Hotspur in Seoul on Sunday. That match will mark the first time that Newcastle United come up against Thomas Frank as new Spurs manager following his move from Brentford earlier this summer.
The game will likely be dominated by Heung-min Son amid intense speculation over his future at the north London club. The South Korean international has been linked with a move to MLS side LAFC this summer.