Newcastle United return to action in the Premier League tonight as they host Frank Lampard’s Everton at St. James’ Park under the lights.
The Magpies are unbeaten in their last five matches in the division and will be hoping to extend that run as they face a Toffees team in the bottom half of the table.
Eddie Howe’s men are sitting sixth in the league and could move up to fifth if results go their way, whilst their opponents are 14th and one point above the drop zone.
Newcastle held Manchester United to a 0-0 draw in their last Premier League outing as they picked up a point and a clean sheet at Old Trafford.
Whilst it maintained the unbeaten run and was a solid point away from home, Howe is unlikely to have been pleased with the lack of attacking quality on display from the Magpies as they only mustered two shots on target.
Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak remain out injured and this means that the manager will need to look elsewhere in his squad to spark the team into life.
One player he could unleash from the start to add some attacking flair to the line-up is academy graduate Elliot Anderson, who has been brought into the first-team fold this season, in central midfield or out wide.
The 19-year-old has made five substitute appearances in the top flight so far and now could be in line to finally be named in the starting XI, as he could make a big impact at the top end of the pitch.
In 90 minutes of Premier League football, Anderson has won 53% of his duels, completed five tackles, and created one ‘big chance’ for the team.
Former Magpies scout Graham Carr previously hailed the youngster after being impressed by his performances on loan at Bristol Rovers last term, saying: “He is classy. He receives the ball like Peter Beardsley. He kills it & moves it all in one motion. That is a gift. He stood out like a sore thumb, miles above anyone else. I got in the car afterwards & started ringing people to talk about him.”
During his spell in League Two, the Scotland youth international scored seven goals and provided six assists in 20 starts, whilst creating 1.9 chances and making 1.7 tackles per game.
Anderson, who has played 83 games at club level from U18s to the first-team, is a player who has the potential to inject a spark into the team as he could make a big impact on the ball, with his ability to score and create goals.
He has shown glimpses of what he is capable of doing in possession in the Premier League so far this season and it is now down to Howe to unleash him from the start against the Toffees to see if he can make the step up.
Jacob Murphy and Ryan Fraser have one goal and zero assists in six combined starts between them and it is now time to see whether or not Anderson can ignite the side more than them in the absence of Saint-Maximin by starting on the left of the front three, away from his more natural attacking midfield role.
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