Sandro Tonali sent clear Newcastle United message as Aston Villa underline key frustration
Sandro Tonali scored on his Newcastle United debut against Aston Villa - but is yet to find the net for the club this season.
Newcastle United have struggled to register shots on target or goals from distance this season.
Across all competitions, The Magpies have scored 59 goals, yet only four have come from outside of the box. Bruno Guimaraes, who is a major doubt for Sunday’s match against Aston Villa at St James’ Park, is responsible for three of them.
The Brazilian scored from distance against Nottingham Forest before netting directly from a corner against Burnley and scoring in the reverse fixture against The Clarets at Turf Moor after capitalising on a defensive mix-up.
Jacob Murphy’s edge-of-the-box strike against West Ham United in November is Newcastle’s only other goal from outside of the area.
In contrast, Sunday’s Premier League opponents Villa, have scored the most outside of the box goals of any team in the Premier League this season.
12 of Villa’s 33 goals in the Premier League this season have come from outside of the box. While they’ve only scored one more goal than Newcastle in the Premier League this season, Villa’s shots from distance have often seen them break down teams and pick up plenty of points seemingly from nowhere this season.
Heading into the game at St James’ Park, Unai Emery’s side sit third in the Premier League table, 10 points clear of Newcastle.
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Eddie Howe wary of Aston Villa threat
After Newcastle failed to register a shot on target against Wolves until the final minutes of the match despite dominating possession, the topic of players not shooting from distance was raised.
The Magpies came from behind to win 2-1 at Wolves last season thanks to two goals from outside of the box by Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes.
But that quality seems to be missing from the side somewhat this season while Villa are proving that, if you have the right players, you can have plenty of success from it.
“Shooting from distance is something that I'm well aware that their numbers are very good,” Howe told The Gazette. “I think for us, it's all dependent on who's shooting.
“I think some are much better than others.”
Eddie Howe wants Sandro Tonali to ‘shoot more’ for NUFC
In Guimaraes’ potential absence, Howe went on to namecheck midfielder Sandro Tonali, who is yet to score for the club so far this season.
The closest the Italian has come to scoring this season was his low strike from outside the box at Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League that was initially credited to him before being awarded to Nick Woltemade as it deflected off the German forward before finding the net.
Last season, Tonali scored twice from outside the box. His first was a drilled shot against Brentford in the Carabao Cup and his second, also against Brentford, was an incredible tight-angled effort in the Premier League in which it was debated whether he meant it or not.
“Sandro, for example, has got a rocket of a right foot and we're always encouraging him to shoot more than he does because, you know, I've said many times that he's got one of the hardest shots that I've seen and we see that continually in training,” Howe added.
“But it's getting him in those positions and getting him feeling comfortable to do that. So I think it's very much dependent on the individual player.
“There'll be some that that's just not their strength and their skill, so you don't necessarily want themto do it so much.”
Tonali scored on his Premier League debut for Newcastle against Aston Villa in 2023 and will be looking to get back amongst the goals this weekend.