FA rules ban Brighton star from Newcastle United clash - ex-Sunderland man has already fired warning
Brighton have emerged victorious from both meetings with Newcastle United this season, triumphing in Premier League and FA Cup action at St James’ Park and go in search of a fourth-straight win against the Magpies this weekend. Eddie Howe’s side will know all too well of the quality their opponents possess, however, and will be keen to set the record straight against the Seagulls.
A win on Sunday would, albeit temporarily, move them five points clear of Chelsea in the Premier League table. The Blues face Liverpool in Sunday’s later kick-off with the chance to close the gap between themselves and the Magpies.
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Hide AdNewcastle, though, have never won a Premier League game at the Amex Stadium and will likely be without the services of Joelinton this weekend. The Brazilian missed the win over Ipswich Town and is not expected to feature again this season.
Brighton man suspended v Newcastle United
However, their hosts this weekend will also be without one of their key players. Joao Pedro, a teammate of Joelinton at international level, will serve the second of a three game ban this weekend following his red card against Brentford last month.
Pedro was dismissed following a coming together between himself and Nathan Collins at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Pedro having been judged to have thrown an elbow at his opponent. That sending off, an act of violent conduct, brought with it a three-match ban.
“Very frustrating,” Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said about Pedro’s sending off. "He immediately apologised after the game. He knew that he did something wrong and therefore we had a discussion with him.
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Hide Ad“We said that we don't accept things like this. But also Joao is a young player. He makes mistakes and hopefully he learned from this mistake for his future.”
Pedro’s suspension this weekend, however, will likely hand Danny Welbeck an opportunity to start for the Seagulls. The 34-year-old completed the full match last weekend as Brighton defeated West Ham 3-2 - and is likely to start again this weekend.
Newcastle United do not need too many reminders of Welbeck’s quality, with the former Sunderland loanee having netted twice already against them this season. Welbeck scored the winner in the reverse fixture back in October and sealed Brighton’s victory in their FA Cup clash in March with a very late extra-time strike. Yankuba Minteh, who Newcastle sold to Brighton in the summer in order to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, netted the other in that match.
During Welbeck’s long career in the Premier League, he has faced Newcastle United on 18 occasions, coming out on the winning side on ten of those games. In fact, Welbeck has only won more games against West Ham (14) than Newcastle United during his career.
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Hide AdDan Burn and Fabian Schar will likely be the centre-back partnership that Howe opts to counter Welbeck and Brighton’s threats on Sunday. They’ve already had two warnings - will they be able to heed the third? Only time will tell.
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