Eddie Howe is set to be handed a major uplift to his Newcastle United first team
Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Newcastle United Eddie Howe will soon get a huge boost to his starting XI, and it will have a far-reaching impact on the Magpies. Saturday’s game against Manchester City may come too soon, but in the coming weeks, the United head coach will be able to name Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall in his side for only the second time since February.
Newcastle have many influential, big-name players who are crucial to the way Howe plays, but the absence of both attacking full-backs has been a major setback to the Magpies.
Hall has been dealt some cruel injury blows, with his ankle and foot problem keeping him out of the side which won the Carabao Cup back in March.
Since then, he has suffered a couple of minor setbacks on the way to full fitness, but is now set to start against Manchester City on Saturday, with Dan Burn suspended.
He has proven his fitness with England Under-21s during the international break and, while Howe will continue to be cautious with the 21-year-old, his injury problems should be behind him.
Livramento’s absence has been just as painful, especially has he had initially deputised for Hall on the left-hand side of the backline.
He has not featured since picking up a knee injury against Arsenal in September, and is due to return this weekend. Whether that happens remains to be seen, with a bench role more likely after two months out, but his return to the squad will be a huge boost.
It’s not that Burn and Kieran Trippier have played badly. Both are the model of consistency, even if Burn is far more at home at centre-back.
It’s more about what Hall and Livramento add to the team – and how they enhance their team-mates.
For starters, United’s attacking wingers will immediately benefit from having forward-looking, energetic full-backs behind them. It automatically pushes them further up the pitch, while an over-lapping threat means defenders struggle to double-up on the likes of Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy.
This is in turn helps Newcastle’s famous high press, which has been curiously lacking at times this season.
Having full-backs who are capable of getting up and down the pitch with ease will allow United’s forward players to press a higher line, with Sandro Tonali the perfect covering foil.
United have high hopes that a backline of Livramento, Hall, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman can serve the club for many years to come, but as yet they’ve only played together once as a unit – keeping a clean sheet in the goalless draw at Bournemouth in September.
The sooner that unit comes together, the better.
Livramento and Hall bring enough to the side purely on their own merits, but their overall contribution can’t be under-estimated, and their return could be a season-changing moment.