Alan Shearer told one Leeds United man will have Newcastle United 'trembling'
Leeds United head to St James’ Park for their latest Premier League clash on Wednesday.
Micah Richards believes in-form Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will have Newcastle United ‘trembling’ in their boots ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
Calvert-Lewin has been in great form over the festive period, scoring seven goals in six appearances before being rested at Liverpool last week. The 28-year-old returned to the starting line-up for Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United and came within inches of further increasing his tally of eight for the season.
The striker rose brilliantly to get on the end of Anton Stach’s deep cross in the first-half, his glancing header going right across goal and hitting Senne Lammens’ far post. Service was a little lacking after that near-miss as Leeds struggled to get going but he still caused plenty of problems for the Manchester United defence.
Next up for Calvert-Lewin and Leeds on Wednesday is a Newcastle side who beat Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday, keeping their first Premier League clean sheet since early October. That will bring confidence for the home side but Richards is looking forward to seeing Leeds’ leading man cause problems again.
“I can’t wait for that game,” Richards told The Rest is Football after Alan Shearer mentioned the midweek meeting. “I love the Geordies. But when Leeds are in town, I can’t wait. Calvert-Lewin will have you trembling in your boots, Alan.”
Calvert-Lewin will have his work cut out for him at St James’ Park, with Newcastle’s defenders not afraid to get physical. Fabian Schar will have come up against the former Everton man multiple times while £35million summer signing Malick Thiaw is enjoying an excellent debut campaign in the Premier League.
Alan Shearer on key Newcastle vs Leeds United ‘battle’
Shearer has been critical of Newcastle during what has been an underwhelming first-half of the season but three wins in five has lifted them up to ninth, with Eddie Howe’s side starting to find form. And the former Newcastle striker expects a ‘good battle’ between Thiaw and Calvert-Lewin.
“Let’s see. It will be a good battle by the way because Newcastle looked a bit more solid against [Palace],” he said. “Malick Thiaw has been a really good buy for Newcastle, he’s had a really good season, even when Newcastle weren’t playing well. So that will be a good battle [between] those two.”
Newcastle have been boosted by the return of three experienced defenders in Tino Livramento, Sven Botman and Kieran Trippier who were all in the squad against Palace. Winger Jacob Murphy is a doubt having come off during Sunday’s win with a hamstring issue.
Former Magpies midfielder Sean Longstaff will expect to be involved after making his return to the bench against Manchester United following a calf injury. Jayden Bogle missed Sunday’s stalemate with a minor issue in the same area but could return quickly, while club captain Ethan Ampadu will be available after serving a one-game ban over the weekend.