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Newcastle given boost before huge Burnley game – report

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Image for Newcastle given boost before huge Burnley game – report

In what’s been a rough week for Newcastle following the Palace game, they have been handed a big boost ahead of their game against Burnley.

Injuries have plagued Steve Bruce’s team this season and they undoubtedly would have had a big impact on some of the results and performances, but tomorrow shall see the return of two key players in Javier Manquillo and Jonjo Shelvey.

According to the Chronicle, the pair are back in contention to start on the weekend, which could be giving Steve Bruce a positive headache for a change.

The news comes just a day after it was announced that yet another player has been ruled out for the season. Paul Dummett and Jetro Willems have already had their seasons come to an end and now Ciaran Clark joins the club that nobody wants to be apart of.

More positively, Jonjo Shelvey’s return will be huge, as he has supplied over a fifth of the team’s goals this season in the Premier League, and he has missed 12 out of the 27 games.

Shelvey has bagged five goals this campaign, whereas United have scored just 24 between them, with half coming from set-pieces.

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In fact, when you look a bit closer at the team’s statistics, you can see just how paramount the midfielder is in terms of their goalscoring ability.

Remarkably, Shelvey averages 1.7 shots per game, which is just 0.1 behind Allan Saint-Maximin who tops the charts, and is 0.2 more than Joelinton who is behind Shelvey. For a team that doesn’t score many goals, this threat from midfield is absolutely crucial. The next closest central midfielder to having that many shots is Sean Longstaff with 1.1, and after that Isaac Hayden with 0.7. This proves that Shelvey plays an alternative role to the other central midfielders in Bruce’s 5-4-1; a role which gets a lot more shots off.

With the Magpies not scoring in four out of the last five league games, it is really important for them that they can start finding the net again.

Similarly, Javier Manquillo was having a really impressive season before his injury, so it will be interesting to see whether or not he can force his way back into the team.

This is a huge game for Newcastle as you can really feel the unhappiness with the recent results and style of football. If they can win, it will relieve some of that pressure and mean they can stop looking over their shoulder for the meanwhile.

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