Tag: Christian Atsu

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez will have to wait for last-minute decision on three players ahead of tonight’s Premier League clash against Arsenal.

After long trips during the international break, Miguel Almiron, Christian Atsu and DeAndre Yedlin could be left out of the team as the Spaniard awaits an update over their fitness.

Defender Fabian Schar has also been ruled out, although through suspension rather than injury and Sean Longstaff is unavailable for the clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Jamaal Lascelles is understood to be fit but could still be left out as a precautionary measure following the centre-back’s recent return from injury.

“The international break is always quite complicated, particularly at this stage of the season, because you can see a lot of injuries,” Benitez said.

“The players are tired and a lot of the national teams are playing for something so they are pushing players.

“We have some knocks but Sean Longstaff is the only player who is injured for us at the moment. Schar has had another test this morning and he was fine, training with the team.

“Today, we have had (Christian) Atsu, (DeAndre) Yedlin and (Miguel) Almiron coming back from international duty. We will need to make sure that they are fine tomorrow.

“When a player returns on a Thursday evening, it is quite difficult to get them ready for a game on a Saturday. But this game we play on Monday, so we have time.”

Lascelles and Yedlin both featured in Newcastle’s last clash with Arsenal as the Gunners won 2-1 at St James’ Park back in September.