Newcastle United are sweating on the fitness of both Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson ahead of tonight’s game against Manchester United.
It is Newcastle United‘s biggest game of what has been an injury-ridden season, so it is only fitting that the Magpies have fitness issues once again.
Having only just returned from a pectoral injury, Callum Wilson missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brighton due to illness. On top of that, Alexander Isak was also suffering from illness and was only able to play for 68 minutes.
With just over 20 minutes to go, Eddie Howe decided to take his top scorer off, with the 24-year-old clearly struggling to have an impact.
What Eddie Howe said about Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson ahead of Man United
Howe has since stated that both Isak and Wilson are doubts for the game against Manchester United – a game that Newcastle are being tipped to win.
The Toon boss said in his press conference that neither player had trained following the game with Brighton, with Newcastle fans facing up to the possibility of not having a fit centre forward at Old Trafford.
However, that may not actually be the case.
Craig Hope shares fitness update on Isak and Wilson
That is according to the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, who has provided updates on Isak and Wilson following Howe’s pre-match press conference.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hope state that he expected Isak to train on Tuesday after the press conference, which would then lead to him being fit enough to start against the Red Devils.
“We believe Alexander Isak will be okay to return to training today (Tuesday) and should be okay to feature from the off against Manchester United,” he said.
“Wilson, there is a little less confidence around. If he is okay, perhaps he can take a place on the bench. But I certainly would not expect to see Eddie do what he did at Burnley where he deployed the 4-4-2 and put Isak and Wilson together.”
Great news for Newcastle if Isak is fit to start
In our predicted XI piece, we have gone with Isak leading the line for Newcastle. Howe is always trying to keep his cards close to his chest in his press conferences, and this feels like another one of those situations.
Hopefully he is fit enough to at least give us an hour, and that will certainly be more attainable if Callum Wilson is available too to provide cover off the bench.
As Hope says, it is incredibly unlikely that they both start like they did at Burnley. That did not feel probable anyway, even if they were both fully fit.
For Isak, he will be keen to quickly get back to his best. He had a couple of sniffs at goal on Saturday, but was well below his best. He struggled to get in the game, as his run of scoring in consecutive games at St James’ Park came to an end.
The 24-year-old’s Golden Boot hopes are basically over too, as Erling Haaland moved on to 27 goals after bagging a brace against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night. That leaves Isak seven goals behind the Manchester City superstar. While Isak is ‘frightening‘ in front of goal, there is no way he is going to severely close that gap.
But it does look like he will get the chance add to his overall tally of 23 goals in all competitions, with Hope tipping Isak to start for Newcastle United tonight.
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