Lewis Hall returning to action was a sight for sore Newcastle United eyes on Wednesday night, but he still shouldn’t start in Sunday’s crucial game at Brentford.
Newcastle United bounced back from Sunday’s shocking defeat to West Ham by beating Athletic Club 2-0 in the Champions League, even if the performance still left a lot to be desired.
A headed goal each from Dan Burn and Joelinton secured the three points, which has put Eddie Howe’s side in a strong position halfway through the league phase fixtures.
Yet, Newcastle must now follow up the win when they travel to Brentford on Sunday, having not won away in the Premier League in their last eight attempts.
The Magpies need to start finding some consistency to climb up the table after a tricky start to the campaign.
Injuries to several key stars can be blamed for the uneven early form, which is why finally seeing Lewis Hall return at St. James’ Park was such a welcome sight.
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Lewis Hall impresses in 25-minute Newcastle United return
It’s been a tough start to the season for Hall, who started it injured, came back only to suffer another blow and be ruled out further.
Hall was fantastic last season before his campaign was cut short and his absence has been sorely felt, especially since Tino Livramento was also struck down by injury.
So his return to action in the 65th minute against Athletic was a huge boost for Newcastle, even before he tore straight into the action and left Newcastle fans impressed.
There were hardly any signs of rustiness as Hall brought exactly what Newcastle have been missing at left-back with his positive forward passing and eagerness to get forward in support of the attack.
As well as Dan Burn has done filling in in the position, the giant Geordie simply doesn’t have the energy or pace to be providing overlapping runs for 90 minutes.
Burn covered 7.1km in his 65 minutes on the pitch. In less than half the time on the field, Hall surpassed more than half of that distance with 3.6km. He also reached a top speed of 30.2 km/h, compared to Burn’s 28.3 km/h, according to FotMob.
It was only a brief cameo when the game was already over, but Hall’s return immediately made Newcastle look better.
Yet, he still shouldn’t start on Sunday.
Why Dan Burn should start for Newcastle United vs Brentford
Newcastle have a huge task on Sunday. They need to finally win an away game for the first time in nine attempts when they return to the scene of last week’s crime, London, to face Brentford.
It’s a crucial game, a win in which will boost morale massively ahead of the international break, while a defeat will sour the mood and keep the Magpies languishing in the bottom half.
Howe needs to name as strong a side as possible and usually that would include Hall, but not this time.
For starters, he’s only just come back after a tricky period on the sidelines, throwing him straight back into the starting XI against a robust and athletic team is a risk. Especially on the eve of an international break he can spend getting back to full fitness.
There’s also a tactical reason for keeping Burn in the side, though.
Long throws have come back into fashion this season and Brentford are the biggest practitioners. In Michael Kayode, they have a Rory Delap level of threat from the bylines and Burn’s towering height, alongside Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman, will be crucial in dealing with that danger.
Hall can come on, of course, and his injection of energy could come in handy, but he shouldn’t start just yet.
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