Newcastle United face Jacob Murphy dilemma as worrying stat emerges
Jacob Murphy has been a key player for some time at Newcastle United now, but a worrying stat has emerged this season.
He may have seen plenty of bigger names arrive around him, but Jacob Murphy remains a key player for Newcastle United.
The 30-year-old winger arrived at St. James’ Park from Norwich City in 2017 and endured a slow start to life in black and white, even being loaned to West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns, respectively. But Murphy has kicked on since that last temporary spell away, and last season, enjoyed his best campaign yet with nine goals and 14 assists across all competitions - including eight goals and 12 assists in 35 Premier League appearances.
Jacob Murphy struggling in front of goal
This season has been more of a struggle for Murphy. The arrival of Anthony Elanga has restricted him to just four starts and 50% of minutes in the Premier League so far, yielding zero goals and one assist. That said, data provided by OLBG suggests Murphy has still had enough chances to do better, underperforming his xG by 1.32. The winger has generated that xG from a joint-team-high 12 shots, while he’s had more shots on target (5) than any other Newcastle player.
But Murphy is yet to find his mark, with his xG under-performance the 21st-highest among players in Europe’s top five leagues, and the fifth-most of any Premier League player.
- Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace): -2.08
- Amad Diallo (Man Utd): -1.89
- Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd): -1.7
- Beto (Everton): -1.54
- Jacob Murphy (Newcastle United): -1.32
What has Eddie Howe said about Jacob Murphy’s Newcastle chances?
Speaking after Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League in mid-September - in which he provided an assist for the second game running - Eddie Howe confirmed Murphy would be rotated with Elanga throughout the rest of 2025. Howe promised both Murphy and Elanga ‘enough football’ between now and Christmas.
“I think they both understand, especially in a week like this week – and that's copy and repeat until Christmas for us," explained the Magpies boss. "There's going to be enough football for both players. “The big thing for me is whoever enters the pitch, whoever we decide to play, you want them at their best physical condition to execute what we ask them to do. We play an intense style, so the players if they are not playing need to be ready to come on and impact.
“I was pleased with the subs [against Barcelona] and that will be absolutely crucial as we go through the season.”
Murphy will be hoping to get the start when Newcastle travel to Brighton in the Premier League this weekend after the international break, followed by an exciting clash at home to Benfica in the Champions League. That’s just half of a busy period in which Newcastle play four times in 11 days, also hosting Fulham in the Premier League and Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup as they continue their title defence.
Your next Newcastle United read: Eintracht Frankfurt to make January bid for Newcastle's William Osula