This season will once again be a balancing act for Eddie Howe. Newcastle struggled to adapt to the schedule during their first Champions League campaign for two decades in 2023-24 and there is a clear strategy to manage workloads this time around. Three days after defeat by Barcelona at St James’ Park, a goalless draw for Howe here on his return to Bournemouth to face a side in good form will feel like a job well done.
Newcastle made six changes to the team that lost in Europe on Thursday, only one of them enforced as Nick Woltemade returned to the lineup with Anthony Gordon serving the last match of his suspension. A back five was deployed and sat stubbornly in their own third to begin with.
Andoni Iraola kept the visitors guessing, switching his wingers more than once in the opening exchanges. Tyler Adams, set up by David Brooks’s back-heel from the right, drew the first save from Nick Pope. Brooks, this time from the left, was then found by Evanilson’s cutback and finished coolly, only for the offside flag to go up.
Jacob Murphy, only a second-half substitute against Barcelona, was Newcastle’s biggest threat. He had their best chance of the half when he combined with Woltemade and Sandro Tonali before having a shot saved by Djordje Petrovic.
