Player of the Month McNeil and Branthwaite will not play against Newcastle because of injury and…

Everton welcomes Newcastle United to Goodison Park on Saturday with the goal of building on their first Premier League victory of the year.

Newcastle has produced their best work in the top division in more than ten years,

while the Toffees have had a forgettable start.

Everton defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 last weekend to finally put a win in the Premier League standings after a grueling,

agonizing, and disappointing first five games.

Everton had lost 1-0 in a dismal first half, but Dwight McNeil’s two goals soon after the break completely changed the course of the match and gave them their first comeback win since October 2022.

Even while McNeil earned his share of attention, it was Jarrad Branthwaite‘s comeback that finally sent Everton over the finish line.

Unlike in previous weeks, they were able to finish the game pretty comfortably,

which was a huge change from how they had protected leads.

Newcastle has won 4-1 at this location since Eddie Howe took over,

but they have also experienced two heartbreaking losses.

In 2022, they lost to a 10-man Everton due to a goal from Alex Iwobi in the 99th minute;

the previous season, they lost 3-0, with all of the goals occurring in the closing 10 minutes.

Prior to the current campaign, Newcastle had defeated Everton five times in their previous six meetings.

However, they were only able to secure a point against the Toffees once, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late penalty gave them a draw in their most recent encounter in April.

Newcastle had won 10 of their past 17 away games across all competitions after losing their last four away games of 2023 and to Liverpool on New Year’s Day.

There was no need for an away day in midweek though, since their EFL Cup encounter with AFC Wimbledon was shifted to St James’ Park after the tragic flooding that hit the League Two side’s home last week.

Newcastle advanced to play Chelsea after winning 1-0 thanks to a penalty kick from Fabian Schar.

However, manager Steve Howe was not happy with his interim team, believing the game was “instantly forgettable” and that they did not perform well enough in the closing minutes.

Because of his two goals last week, McNeil was nominated for the September Premier League Player of the Month award.

According to Whoscored, he finished fifth in Europe among the top five league performers for the month, behind only Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Giovani Lo Celso, and Omar Marmoush.

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