Newcastle United

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Carabao Cup game against Bradford City at St James' Park (kick-off 19:45 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Yoane Wissa "does not require surgery" on his knee and is expected to return "the other side of the international break".

• Howe said "there will be an element of rotation" to give those that played three games last week "a rest", but he still wants "a strong team" to give them the best chance of progressing.

• He said "it's got a nice feel about it" to go into the game as competition holders and "we want to respect that by trying to do our best to go on another good run".

• On League One leaders Bradford: "We are up against tough opponents. They are doing very well in their league and they are on a strong winning run. They have beaten two Championship teams to get to this point so full credit to them and [manager] Graham Alexander."

• Howe said it is unfair for people to make comparisons between Nick Woltemade and Alexander Isak because "every player is unique in their own right and Nick is certainly that".

• More on Woltemade's performance against Bournemouth: "We weren't creating chances for him, and to a degree as a centre-forward, you are a reliant on that service and we didn't provide him with enough."

• He said "it's up to everybody to chip in with goals" as that is what the team has done "really well" with over the years. Howe added: "That has to be the case again."

Follow all of Tuesday's news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to Howe's news conference on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Bournemouth and Newcastle.

Here are some of your comments:

Bournemouth fans

Mick: The fact that a team like Newcastle comes to Vitality Stadium with a defensive setup and is determined not to lose shows the respect now being shown to Iraola's team. Not our best display, but we never gave up trying to break down their low block. Impressive that our 'short' team held their own against Newcastle's giants! Brilliant start to the season by the Cherries.

Martin: Land of the Giants with this Newcastle team. Cherries needed more guile to unlock the defence but couldn't find it. Had 0-0 written all over it.

Jim: Solid performance. With all the changes this season, little old Bournemouth are playing so well!

Rob Been to every Cherries game this season, and the start has been immense, but here they were lacking intent. No crisp, sharp passes or real dynamism. Newcastle had made seven changes but there was no penetration or ability to cause consistent danger. Fourth as it stands though!

Newcastle fans

Smudge: Abject performance going forward again. Nowhere near good enough. But another fantastic effort for the defence and four clean sheets in five games is absolutely brilliant. Poor team selection again has cost us three points but given then struggles at Bournemouth over the past few seasons, that could prove to be a good point at the end of the season.

Bryan: Let's hope Yoane Wissa is available sooner rather than later as we possibly won't score before Christmas otherwise. Blunt force trauma.

Duncan: Boring! We went for the draw and I would have taken that before kick-off, but not in that manner. Big Nick Woltermade is finding out the difference between the Bundesliga and the Premier League. It's a lot faster and more physical. He will get there but it will take time. I think the point was bigger with the two Brazilian midfielders rested, which they needed. They were both tired in the midweek game. Sandro Tonali was doing his best to get things moving, but he was flogging a dead horse really. It was an uninspiring performance and a boring game.

John: A very hard-earned point. The time is coming when Newcastle will actually win three points at Bournemouth. It's a very hard place to go to and come back with the points - as we well know!

Pundits Shay Given and Theo Walcott join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Bournemouth 0-0 Newcastle

• Sunderland 1-1 Aston Villa

• Arsenal 1-1 Man City

Ciaran Kelly
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle had no time to dwell. Less than 72 hours after tasting defeat against Barcelona, they were embarking on their longest away trip of the top-flight campaign.

Sunday felt a psychological test as much as a physical one against a relentless Bournemouth side - and away days certainly not do come much tougher than a trip to the Vitality.

Newcastle had not won at Bournemouth in front of supporters in nearly a decade. Home or away, head coach Eddie Howe has yet to defeat his former side in the Premier League since taking charge of Newcastle nearly four years ago.

Perhaps, then, it was not a surprise that Howe switched to a back three and ensured his side had a solid defensive base to build from with Thiaw, Lewis Hall and Sven Botman among seven changes.

After weathering some early pressure, though, Newcastle lacked a cutting edge with Woltemade tidy in linking play, but only having one touch inside the opposition box in the first half.

Newcastle had just one effort on target as they became just the second team in top-flight history to record goalless draws in their first three away top-flight matches to a season.

Eddie Howe spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Newcastle's draw against Bournemouth: "I haven't give it too much thought in terms of who deserves what. We know Bournemouth are a really good team. We limited them to long sots and Nick made some good saves. We didn't get our attacking game going.

On no shots in second half: "It's not good. You want to create chances and clear cut chances. It didn't feel that in our performance. We are going through one of those phases where it's hard to score away from home.

"Joelinton we have to really protect from injury. He's just back. Bruno is different but the two who played today did really well.

"We're evolving and changing as an attacking force. Our ability to defend has been at a high level and we will score goals."

Dan Burn spoke to Sky Sports after Sunday's draw: "It's not been the way we've played here in the past. Since I've been here we've never won. We changed up and went more direct. A point is good and we changed six or seven players today. It showed the depth we've got in this squad.

"We've invested well in the summer and we've spent a lot of money. We should use those players and it's probably a lesson we've learned from the previous campaign in the Champions League.

On the clean sheet: "We've worked a lot on it. We have a good team there. We're happy and got something to build on. We've not attacked as we've liked but we are a very good attacking team

"We grew into it. Start of the second we could have been braver and took more risks.

On the penalty shout: "I didn't see it to be honest. I'd have to see it again but I'll say it was a penalty.

"We've had a good summer bringing in players of a really high quality."

Did you know?

Newcastle United's starting XI (25y 349d) today had the youngest average age in a Premier League game of theirs since October 2019, against Wolverhampton Wanderers (25y 249d).

Hear match reaction, more from Howe and hear from Malik Thiaw on BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Bournemouth's performance

What did you make of Newcastle's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Bournemouth have made two changes as Bafode Diakite and Alex Jimenez come into the side.

Bournemouth starting line-up: Petrovic, Truffert, Senesi, Diakite, Jimenez, Scott, Adams, Brooks, Tavernier, Semenyo, Evanilson

Subs: Dennis, Soler, Christie, Gannon-Doak, Kluivert, Adli, Kroupi Jr, Hill, Milosavljevic

Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has made seven changes to the side beaten by Barcelona midweek.

Malick Thiaw makes his full debut for the club after Fabian Schar came off with a head injury in the 2-1 defeat.

Sven Botman, Lewis Hall, Lewis Miley, Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock and record signing Nick Woltemade also come into the team.

Newcastle starting line-up: Pope, Livramento, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Miley, Murphy, Woltemade, Willock

Subs: Ramsdale, Trippier, Lascelles, Joelinton, Barnes, Krafth, Osula, Elanga, Guimaraes

There are three games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

Bournemouth v Newcastle (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Sunderland v Aston Villa (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Arsenal v Manchester City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times BST

Follow all of the action and reaction here to the 14:00 games here

And find Arsenal v Man City here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Sunderland v Aston Villa" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Arsenal v Man City", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

This is tough because you could make an argument for every outcome, but I'm going to back Bournemouth.

I've been impressed by the Cherries so far this season in defence and attack and, although Newcastle beat Wolves last time out, they haven't really got going yet.

Former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is yet to win at the Vitality Stadium in three visits with Newcastle, and I think he's going to have to wait a little longer for his first success.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

After facing Barcelona on Thursday, Newcastle make the long trip to the south coast to face in-form Bournemouth. BBC Sport takes a look at the key talking points going into the game.

Bournemouth went into the weekend in fourth place after making their best start to a Premier League season. The Cherries continue to defy the doubters who predicted they might struggle after their defence was asset stripped over the summer by a host of Europe's biggest clubs.

Victory over Newcastle would match their club record of four successive Premier League wins, set twice under former manager and current Magpies boss Eddie Howe.

The Cherries are unbeaten in all six of their matches against Howe's Newcastle and enjoyed one of their best Premier League results in their last encounter with a stunning 4-1 victory at St James' Park in January.

Antoine Semenyo may not have been on the scoresheet that day but he has started this season in sensational form, contributing three goals and two assists to their tally of six goals so far.

The Cherries' famed scouting team may have struck gold yet again if the performance of 18-year-old debutant Veljko Milosavljevic in the win over Brighton is anything to go by.

If selected, the towering Serbian centre-back may come up against another man who stole the headlines on his first Premier League appearance in Newcastle's Nick Woltemade.

The Geordies had mustered just two goals from 34 shots across their opening three games, so were grateful for the German to step up and help them record a first win of the campaign against Wolves last Saturday.

Howe, who describes his 6ft 6in forward as an "unusual and very distinctive striker", sprung a surprise by dropping him to the bench for the defeat by Barcelona on Thursday.

But he is expected to restore him to the starting line-up as they try to score a first away goal of the campaign after two 0-0 draws at Leeds and Aston Villa. Leicester City, in 1976-77, are the only side in top-flight history to record goalless draws in their first three away top-flight matches to a season.

At the other end of the pitch they have impressed with a joint top-flight high three clean sheets so far and the Premier League's lowest expected goals against total of 2.1.

They will need to start well against a Cherries side that have scored an early goal in three of their four games so far, which has helped them lead for more minutes than any other top-flight side this season.

In the wake of the Barcelona defeat, Howe spoke of how his side will need to deal with the comedown following that match and be switched on for their test at Vitality Stadium.

"It's a psychological issue rather than a physical issue," the Newcastle boss said. "It's the big high [of the Barcelona game] - a big experience for the players, another big, emotional game – then the big comedown, then you've got to go to Bournemouth, which is a really tough away game."

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

Image source, Getty Images

These are the levels in the Champions League.

Newcastle United had more shots on target (six) and a higher xG (1.46) than Barcelona in a 2-1 defeat at St James' Park.

But it was the Catalan giants, and Marcus Rashford, that were clinical in front of goal on Thursday.

Though Anthony Gordon got on the scoresheet late on, this was a night where Newcastle were made to rue not taking their chances when the score was goalless.

All the while, record signing Nick Woltemade watched on from the bench for the opening hour as Eddie Howe tried to "make sure he stays fit".

Given their lack of alternatives up front, Newcastle are conscious of being careful with Woltemade, who came off with cramp on his goalscoring debut against Wolves at the weekend.

Not least with a packed run of fixtures against Bournemouth, Bradford City, Arsenal, Union Saint-Gilloise and Nottingham Forest to come in the next couple of weeks.

In some ways, this was a night where another new arrival, Yoane Wissa, was missed as a striker who could share the burden with Woltemade.

But Wissa picked up a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo and faces a race against time to be fit for the trip to Brighton next month.

So it would be a huge surprise if Woltemade did not come back into the side at the weekend, particularly with Gordon still serving a domestic ban.

And Newcastle do not have time to dwell on the Barcelona defeat and what might have been following a "big emotional game" in the words of Howe.

Not when facing Bournemouth, who have made their best start to a Premier League season.

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Yoane Wissa is likely to to "be out until the next international break" with Howe saying: "We just have to deal the best we can with that situation."

• He reiterated that once Wissa is recovered he will "be such an important player for us".

• On whether he is frustrated Wissa played both international games for DR Congo after not having any pre-season: "It's one I'm not in control of, so I've tried not to give it too much emotion. Of course we're devastated that he's injured. We've just got to try to get him fit as quickly as possible in the safest way."

• Howe said playing Champions League football and then switching back to the Premier League is a "psychological issue rather than a physical issue": "You come down and then you've got to go to Bournemouth, which is a really tough away game even with a full week to prepare. This will be the first test of that this season and hopefully we can rise to it."

• On striker Nick Woltemade who was on the bench against Barcelona: "We're going to have to look after Nick. It's hard enough for him to come into a new league - and you could see the physical effects he felt with Wolves and then the quick turnaround again [against Barcelona].

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to live commentary of Bournemouth v Newcastle from 14:00 BST on Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Newcastle's Champions League defeat by Barcelona.

Here are some of your comments:

Mark: A good first half where we should've scored at least one goal. Two well-taken goals did the damage. It was nice to get a goal back but Barcelona unfortunately then saw the game out comfortably. There's no disgrace in losing to them, that's for sure.

Steve: We competed really well but suffered with not having a natural finisher on the pitch. Marcus Rashford was the difference - he had an outstanding game. On paper, Newcastle haven't had a great start to the season but the performances don't reflect that. We just need a clinical striker and hopefully we've found one in Nick Woltemade.

Len: There's not much hope of a successful run in the Champions League on this showing.

Alan: We pay a record fee for a striker, he scores and plays really well on his debut, but he is on the bench for our biggest match since the Carabao Cup final! He was sat there along Jacob Murphy, who was our most creative player against Wolves. Shocking - very poor tactics from Eddie Howe.

Michael: Leaving Woltemade on the bench cost us the result.

Dave: We were beaten by a very good team who had a plan to handle our midfield and it worked. One good thing to come out of the match was Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw both looked good when they came on. It might be time for a change.

Barcelona came out victorious in the Champions League opener at St James' Park, but Newcastle fans remain optimistic after "putting up a good fight" against the Spanish giants.

Hear more fan and punditry reaction from BBC Radio Newcastle on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe chose Anthony Gordon to lead the line against Barcelona, with summer signing Nick Woltemade on the bench.

That was after Woltemade scored the only goal last Saturday on his debut in the 1-0 win against Wolves, before coming off with cramp.

With fellow new striker Yoane Wissa sidelined with a knee injury, Gordon got the nod in the Champions League and former Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden believes that could have been a critical decision.

"It is always easy on reflection to say who should and shouldn't have started but there were two missed chances in the first half and goals change games," he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues podcast.

"Even if just one of them had gone in then it would have been a completely different game in the second half.

"Newcastle balls and transitions were getting broken down way too easily in the second half and it felt like the first-time ball to the centre-forward just wasn't there.

"That is because they were trying to transition too quickly and sometimes you need two or three passes forward.

"Gordon's goal was quite poignant because it was the first time Newcastle had connected three or four passes.

"It just came too late in the game."

Listen to the Euro Leagues podcast on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Former Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live at St. James' Park after Newcastle lost their opening game in the Champions League:

"In the end, Barcelona seemed to wear Newcastle down with their patience and getting it in the right area. Every single team-mate had an option when they were on the ball.

"Newcastle were outstanding tonight. The chances they missed in the first half - and they were good chances - probably allowed Barca to get into the game.

"Newcastle should've been a goal up at half-time. You have to take your chances - I can't reiterate that enough. When you're playing against the likes of Barcelona, a half chance is a good chance.

"On tonight's performance, Barcelona just nicked it.

"They knew full well that they're not going to physically overpower this Newcastle midfield but they can pass round you and keep the ball. They did make it look so easy."

BBC football correspondent John Murray added:

"Seven matches to come and they're not going to be playing the Spanish champions every time.

"But a little bit like two years ago in the Champions League for Newcastle, there were some great memories and moments, but in the end it was good but not quite good enough."

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle team selection raised eyebrows when the big summer striker acquisition to replace Alexander Isak, Nick Woltemade, was left on the bench.

Woltemade made a scoring debut following his move from Stuttgart with the winner against Wolverhampton Wanderers, although he did come off with cramp, which may have played a part in Eddie Howe's thoughts.

Anthony Gordon was used through the centre, presumably in a bid to trouble Barcelona with pace, and while he got on the scoresheet late on, he struggled to make a concerted impression.

Newcastle, roared on by the typically noisy and passionate Toon Army, gave as good as they got for almost an hour until Marcus Rashford made his mark, their biggest chance coming after 23 minutes when Anthony Elanga played in Harvey Barnes, only for an unconvincing finish from the winger.

Former Newcastle hero Tino Asprilla was in attendance at St James' Park, reviving memories of his finest hour in a black and white shirt, when he scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 win against Barcelona in the Champions League in September 1997.

There was to be no repeat here, but this was a spirited effort by Newcastle, who showed enough to give them hope for the battles ahead in the tournament's league table format.

Newcastle's fans appreciated their side's endeavours against a Barcelona side of such experience and quality, giving them a rousing reception at the final whistle.

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon, speaking to TNT Sports: "Really tough game. Top team. I felt we had the better moments but they kept possession. They made it really difficult for us to do our usual press and they controlled the game through that.

"They did very well at keeping the ball. Pedri and [Frenkie] De Jong were fantastic.

"It's a top level. [Marcus] Rashford scored two goals out of nowhere. It's got to be the same for us and take the opportunities when they're presented to us.

"That's natural being human beings, 2-0 down to Barca feels like an uphill battle. We got the goal which is testament to our mentality. We were knackered.

"We can be proud of how we played. We gave it our best against one of the top teams in the planet. I didn't think there was much in the game. We had the better moments but we need to put them away."

Listen to Radio Newcastle match reaction with Matthew Raisbeck, John Anderson and Steve Howey on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, speaking to TNT Sports: "Disappointing. We were really in the game. I never felt we were out of it. I'm disappointed we didn't score the first goal. That was criucial. We had the chances to do it. It was a whole-hearted gutsy display but maybe lacking the quality to get us the win.

"We wanted to create a difficult environment with high octane football. I think it was there. We didn't get the bounce of the ball off the presses.

"The chances were there in the first half. Against teams like this you won't get many. We got punished.

"Of course we can do better for both [goals]. The first more than the second. Disappointed he was allowed the cross [for the first]. Disappointed with how the ball arrived to him for the second.

"It was a good performance, strong effort. These nights are only magical for us if we win. But we'll learn and grow our game from nights like this.

"We kept going until the end. That's what we pride ourselves on. They managed the extra time well - we were desperate for the ball but couldn't get it off them."

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Get in touch with your views here

Come back to this page on Friday to find a selection of your replies