There were two young Newcastle United players fighting for TNT Sports’ Player of the Match on Saturday as the Magpies beat Arsenal at St James’ Park.
TNT Sport opted to give the accolade to Lewis Hall based purely on the fact that he was responsible for, and successful in stopping Bukayo Saka down Arsenal’s right, but equally impressive on the other flank was Tino Livramento who came very close to being handed the award.
Tino Livramento was viewed as Newcastle’s first-choice right-back going into this season with everyone expecting Kieran Trippier to take a back seat after turning 34, but as Eddie Howe struggled to get the balance right with the team, Livramento and Trippier kept being swapped in and out by Howe.
Now that Trippier is sidelined through injury, the £32 million signing from Southampton is having a free run at the starting berth and he has taken it with both hands and run with it.
His last few games have been good but on Saturday he was absolutely excellent and now former Toon striker Alan Shearer has said on The Rest Is Football podcast that now is the time for him to be handed that first-team role permanently after Gary Lineker praised his performance.
We can’t see any reason why Howe would need to turn to Trippier to replace Livramento in the first team now. He’s settling in well, contributing at both ends of the pitch like Trippier would, but he’s got the pace to deal with almost anyone he’s likely to come up against which gives him a big edge over Tripps.
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