Newcastle United welcome Arsenal to St James’ Park on Monday night, but the Magpies will have to line up without Jonjo Shelvey due to him picking up a calf injury.
The 30-year-old has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, so Eddie Howe will have to replace him. But with Joe Willock also unavailable, Joelinton might have to return to a midfield role.
The 25-year-old has made 35 appearances in all competitions this campaign, scoring four goals with one assist. He’s impressed as a box-to-box midfielder and found his scoring boots when returning to an attacking role, so Joelinton is an important player under Howe.
Newcastle have commonly lined up with Shelvey, Willock and Bruno Guimaraes in midfield, but they’ll be without two of their usual trio so Howe has a difficult decision to make.
Joelinton is adept at turning over possession (70 tackles, 34 interceptions) and can drive with the ball from deep (36/68 successful dribbles), so he’s not a bad option for Shelvey. Joelinton isn’t as good a passer, so the onus will be on Guimaraes to retain possession and feed the attacking players.
In other news, Newcastle right to sell Federico Fernandez this summer
