Newcastle United issue 'careful' Lewis Hall fitness update ahead of Aston Villa clash

Lewis Hall continues to prove his value as a key player at Newcastle United - but Eddie Howe is wary of the defender’s fitness.

The 21-year-old played his third full 90-minute match in the space of eight days as Newcastle secured a 3-0 Champions League victory against PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park.

Yoane Wissa, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes scored to see The Magpies climb into the top eight in the Champions League heading into the final league phase match against holders Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday (8pm kick-off GMT).

Newcastle are guaranteed at least two more Champions League matches, but whether they progress straight through to the last-16 or into the knockout round play-offs will be determined by their result against PSG. Finishing in the top eight secures progress straight through to the last-16, while finishing 9th to 24th sees clubs enter a seeded two-legged play-off match for a place in the last-16.

Newcastle are effectively guaranteed to at least be a seeded team if they were to finish outside of the top eight due to their current points total and strong goal difference. That means they would have the second leg of the knockout round play-offs played at St James’ Park and play a side who performed worse than them over the eight league phase matches.

But first Newcastle have a tough test against Aston Villa in the Premier League at St James’ Park on Sunday (2pm kick-off).

Newcastle United injuries

Howe’s side will be hoping to be bolstered by the returns of Dan Burn and Will Osula to the matchday squad after the duo returned to training earlier this week. Osula has been out for 12 weeks with an ankle injury while Burn has missed six weeks with broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Burn’s injury and other injuries to Emil Krafth, Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles’ lack of availability mean Newcastle have played recent matches with just four fit senior defenders.

Hall is one of those defenders but, given his importance and injury history, he is being carefully managed despite playing every minute of the last three games in quick succession. The left-back missed the majority of 2025 due to different injury issues but is back at full fitness to start 2026.

But the issue Newcastle have is a lack of alternatives at left-back. With Livramento and Burn unavailable and Matt Targett out on loan, Hall is Newcastle’s only available left-back at the moment.

Kieran Trippier can also play in the position but is one of the four currently fit senior defenders along with Hall, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman.

NUFC cautious over Lewis Hall

Hall is on course to start once again versus Aston Villa on Sunday and could well keep his place for the PSG game, given what is now at stake.

When asked about Hall playing every minute in three successive matches, Howe responded: “We do have to manage him very carefully, but we're hamstrung to a degree on how much we can, as we are with a number of players in our back line.

“I think Lewis has done really well, actually. I think he's looked better and better. He's able to last games now, whereas when he first came back, it was 60 minutes and you could see he was visibly getting fatigued.

“He looks strong, but we don't take that for granted. Of course, behind the scenes, we're working very hard to try and keep him fit.”