rewrite this title Newcastle: Livramento unlikely to make return before 2026

Newcastle United do not believe Tino Livramento’s latest knee injury is a serious one, but it is expected to sideline him until the new year.

Livramento was forced off during Newcastle’s 2-1 EFL Cup win over Fulham on Wednesday, which saw them progress to the semi-finals for the third time in four seasons.

The setback deepened the defensive injury crisis for Newcastle, who are also without Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth and Jamaal Lascelles.

Livramento likely out until new year

But manager Eddie Howe had a positive update on Livramento ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Chelsea.

“We don’t think it’s a serious injury,” Howe told his pre-match press conference. “The complication we have is that Tino has injured that knee before in a very similar area.

“That always makes the potential recovery time a little bit longer. I don’t think we’ll see him possibly before 2026.”

Livramento’s absence means Lewis Miley will likely continue as a makeshift right-back, having impressed in that role against Fulham.

Newcastle could get Hall back

Left-back Lewis Hall missed that game due to a hamstring issue, forcing Livramento to move to the left, but Howe is hopeful Hall could be involved against his former club.

“He could be [available for tomorrow],” Howe added. “He felt some fatigue in his hamstring after the Sunderland game so he had a scan which didn’t reveal too much so we’ll see.”

On Miley, who scored the injury-time winner against Fulham, Howe said: “Lewy did really well on Wednesday.

“Really pleased with him. Great goal, great composure and a strong performance. Every game is so different tactically, the challenges posed by every team is different so I’ll have to try to pick the right team.”

If Hall is unavailable, then Howe will likely have to turn to Alex Murphy at left-back as they look to return to winning ways in the league following last week’s dispiriting 1-0 derby defeat to Sunderland. Murphy came off the bench to fill in for Livramento following his injury.

“In an important moment for the team Alex did really well,” said Howe. “He’s trained with us for a long time but hasn’t had any major game exposure with us.

“He’s had a lot of training time, a lot of development and a good loan spell [at Bolton Wanderers]. He’s someone we trust and performances like that will do him good for the long term.”

Newcastle would move within three points of Chelsea with a win. They have lost only three times at home in all competitions, with their last loss at St James’ Park coming at the hands of Premier League leaders Arsenal on September 28. Their prior home defeats were to Liverpool and Barcelona.