Newcastle United entered the international break winless in their last three Premier League games, with Eddie Howe cursing his side’s luck when drawing 0-0 last time out away at Everton.
The story of the game could have been different if Anthony Gordon managed to hold his nerve from the penalty spot against his former club, but a chorus of jeers from the Toffees faithful got the better of the Magpies star in the end, as Jordan Pickford successfully saved his weak spot-kick.
Gordon won’t want this to be his undoing though, after the Newcastle number ten had enjoyed a successful personal season to date away from that blunder at Goodison Park.
Gordon's form for Newcastle
Prior to this stalemate on the road, Gordon had fired home his side’s only goal of the game against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, taking his account for the campaign to two strikes.
Eyebrows were somewhat raised when the homegrown Toffees product did walk away from home comforts on Merseyside in 2023, with the Magpies splashing out a hefty £45m but he is arguably justifying that extortionate amount now.
In total, the England international has 15 goals and 11 assists lining up for Howe’s men, with 23 of those goal contributions coming last campaign as the left winger sparked into life for his new employers.
Gordon will be striving to match those numbers – or even better them – across this season to come, pushing the disappointment of that penalty miss to the back of his mind in the process.
But, although he has started this campaign in a promising manner away from the clash at Everton, there is a former Magpies dud who is currently outperforming him who Newcastle fans would have definitely forgotten about.
How Florian Thauvin is performing in 2024
Away from striking gold with the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle have been prone to a slip-up when buying from France in the past and Florian Thauvin is certainly one for the dud category when he arrived from Olympique de Marseille in 2015.
Thauvin cost £15m to get in through the door, which ended up being a colossal waste of money, with the French ace making only 16 appearances for the Magpies in total across one forgettable season, with just one goal to show for his efforts on top of three assists.
Now, however, Thauvin has managed to find a black and white strip that’s a more comfortable fit, with three goals and one assist picked up from six games in Serie A action this season to date for Udinese.
Games played
6
7
Goals scored
3
2
Assists
1
0
Shots*
1.7
1.3
Scoring frequency
152 mins
301 mins
Goal conversion
30%
22%
The Frenchman even wears the captain’s armband now for his Italian employers, with the 31-year-old able to put his nightmare stint in England way behind him now without hesitation, as he keeps being a consistent hero for Giampaolo Pozzo’s outfit instead.
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He even has a further one goal and two assists in cup action for Udinese throughout 2024/25, with his electric form certainly seeing him live up to the “magnificent” billing once handed out to him by football journalist Josh Bunting when Thauvin initially bounced back from his dire Magpies stint playing for Marseille again.
Thauvin could arguably be useful to Howe’s troops now if he was theoretically back at St James’ Park, considering the Magpies boss doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of options to call upon down the right wing, with Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron his main two choices amidst a lack of squad depth.
Howe will at least be thankful that he has Gordon at his disposal on the opposite flank, as the one-time Toffees youngster aims to continue nailing down a starting spot for Newcastle this campaign, and perhaps he could better his goal and assist tally for last season in the process.
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