UEFA rules block Newcastle United player from playing v Bayer Leverkusen - four out & two doubts
Newcastle United team news ahead of their Champions League clash away to Bayer Leverkusen.
Eddie Howe is again set to rotate his Newcastle United starting XI for Wednesday’s Champions League clash away to Bayer Leverkusen.
The Magpies’ head coach made six changes for the 2-1 win over Burnley on Saturday in preparation for the midweek trip to Germany, as well as this Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby clash against Sunderland.
United’s visit to the Stadium of Light marks the first Premier League derby between the two sides since 2016, but Howe insists that won’t distract his players from the task at hand in Leverkusen.
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A win at the BayArena will all but guarantees Newcastle a place in the Champions League knockout rounds ahead of remaining fixtures at home to PSV Eindhoven and away to Paris Saint-Germain.
Newcastle United injury news v Bayer Leverkusen clash - three out, two doubts
Newcastle were boosted massively by Yoane Wissa’s debut at the weekend, though they remained without several players due to injury.
Tino Livramento has not long returned from eight weeks out with a knee injury but started for a fourth consecutive game with fellow right-backs Kieran Trippier (hamstring) and Emil Krafth (knee) sidelined. Neither player is expected back until the Christmas period.
Aaron Ramsdale continued in goal for a third successive game as Nick Pope recovers from a groin injury. Pope too is likely to be missing until the Christmas period, though Howe didn’t rule out him returning slightly ahead of schedule.
Speaking about Pope’s recovery on Friday, Howe said: “Yeah, slightly unknown at the moment. Not a serious injury, not a long-term one, but enough to keep him out for probably the next two to three weeks. Probably looking at around Christmas time again for him.
“I think we've got a sort of a glut of players looking at that around Christmas return. If we can shave a bit of time off that and he can come back earlier, then great. But that's the plan at the moment.”
Meanwhile, uncertainty surrounds the fitness of Sven Botman and Will Osula. Botman received an injection for a back issue last week, with Newcastle waiting for the effects of that to ‘kick-in’, while Osula is still nursing an ankle problem.
Osula withdrew from the matchday squad for the 2-0 victory over Athletic Club last month and hasn’t been involved since.
Howe said last week: “We need to have further discussions internally to see quite what's happening with his ankle because it's not going in a straight line. We're not quite happy with how he's feeling, so I'll try and give you some feedback when we get it.”
UEFA rules block Newcastle United defender from being eligible v Bayer Leverkusen
In addition to the aforementioned players, Howe is also unable to name Jamaal Lascelles in his matchday squad against Leverkusen. This is because the 32-year-old wasn’t named on the 21-man ‘List A’ squad Newcastle submitted to UEFA ahead of the competition getting underway.
UEFA rules allow clubs to submit a ‘List A’ of up to 25 players, if they include four ‘club-trained’ players. But in this instance, the Magpies could only name a squad of 21 due to the lack of club-trained players. A club-trained player is any player registered with their current club for at least three full seasons between the ages of 15 and 21, regardless of nationality.
Harrison Ashby, John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie were also left out of the Champions League squad, though neither of the trio have made a first-team appearance this campaign.