Anthony Gordon Fitness Check Looms Before Brighton Visit
anthony gordon will be assessed closer to Saturday’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion, with Eddie Howe saying Newcastle United will wait on the winger’s fitness before naming their plans. Gordon missed the league matches against AFC Bournemouth and Arsenal because of injury, so his status is the biggest selection call ahead of the 3pm BST kick-off at St. James’ Park.
Howe on Gordon
Howe said Gordon had done part of a session on Wednesday and welcomed his return to the pitch. “He did part of a session on Wednesday. It was great to see him back on the pitch. He's a player of huge quality and one that we've missed,” he said at Friday morning’s pre-match media briefing at the Newcastle United Media Centre.
The Newcastle head coach was careful not to lean too far forward on the forward’s chances. “We'll make an assessment on his fitness closer to the game and see what he gets through today,” he said, leaving Saturday as the point when the final call will be made.
Newcastle and Brighton at St. James'
Newcastle go into the match in their penultimate home fixture of the 2025/26 season, and the result carries more weight because they are trying to end four successive league defeats. Howe said the team’s home form “has not been strong enough,” a problem that has sharpened the focus on selection and execution.
He also said the side looked “good, confident and defensively solid” against Arsenal, a sharper review than the recent results suggest. Newcastle made a decision last week to change the backline because they had not kept enough clean sheets, and that change will sit alongside the Gordon decision as part of the same fight to steady the run.
Joelinton Returns
Joelinton is available for selection after serving a two-match suspension, giving Howe one more option as he weighs up the side that faces Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton. That returns the squad to fuller strength at a moment when Newcastle are trying to reset after the defeats and use Saturday’s home match to find a response.
For supporters, the immediate answer is simple: Gordon is not ruled in or out yet. His Wednesday session made the situation more encouraging, but the final assessment comes closer to the game, and that makes Saturday’s team sheet the one that matters.
