Newcastle United set to be without ‘quality’ star for upcoming Arsenal clash as Eddie Howe confirms ‘big blow’

Newcastle United could well be without one of their most dangerous players for their clash with Arsenal in just over a week. The Gunners are preparing for another big fortnight or so ahead of the next international break as they look to return to the top of the table.

Last weekend’s draw saw Mikel Arteta’s men are currently two points behind leaders Tottenham, and they have three league games before the next break, taking on strugglers Sheffield United and Burnley either side of a huge clash with top four hopefuls Newcastle United, while there are also Champions League and Carabao Cup fixtures mixed into the coming weeks.

The Newcastle clash will be seen as the biggest of the Premier League outings, and Arsenal themselves have an injury concern in the form of Gabriel Jesus, but the Magpies have been handed two huge concerns of their own.

During Wednesday night’s Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle lost Jacob Murphy to a shoulder injury, while lead striker Alexander Isak limped off with a groin injury. Eddie Howe has since said: “We’ve got a small squad as is it. That’s probably the most disappointing thing of the night. It looks like a recurrence of his Isak’s groin problem and it’s a big blow. Jacob’s looks serious, potentially a dislocation of his shoulder.”

Isak is Newcastle’s top scorer with seven goals so far this season, and he has had injury issues in the past, missing 16 games last season through a thigh injury. He now looks set for another spell on the sidelines, and it may be a big ask for him to return in time for his side’s clash with Arsenal on November 4th, which is less than two weeks away.

Isak’s absence would be a big blow for Newcastle, with Gary Neville highlighting the striker’s ‘quality’ late last season.

“Isak, I think, is going to be quality,” he said on his podcast. “I think he’s more than just a good forward. Things that impressed me, are things like when he went over to Kieran Trippier to talk to him before that free-kick. He’s only 23 years of age.

“I’m looking for someone who has got more than talent. They’ve got an intelligence to them. They’ve got a brain. They think about the game, he wants to do the right things. His touch, I have to say, a couple of times in this game… there was one in the first-half when he brought it out of the air and released Saint-Maximin. And then his touch for the goal where he slips the pass through to Guimaraes. Real moments of quality.”