Newcastle vs Bournemouth: Howe Faces His Old Club Without Gordon and Joelinton — Full Preview, Team News and How to Watch
Newcastle United host AFC Bournemouth at St James' Park on Saturday 18 April 2026. Anthony Gordon is injured, Joelinton suspended, and Eddie Howe has never beaten his old club with Newcastle. Here is the full preview, confirmed lineups, the 3pm blackout explanation and what channel — if any — the match is on.
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Newcastle United welcome AFC Bournemouth to St James' Park on Saturday afternoon with a 3pm kick-off, two teams on 42 points, one manager facing the club that made him, and one Spanish coach visiting the North East who has just been linked with replacing his opposite number in the dugout.
If that sounds like a lot of storylines for a mid-table fixture, that is because Newcastle vs Bournemouth is the most intriguing Premier League match of Saturday 18 April 2026 — with far more at stake, narratively and politically, than the league table alone suggests.
Here is everything you need to know: the confirmed lineups, the match facts, why the game isn't on UK TV, and why Eddie Howe has never managed to beat his old club with Newcastle.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth — The Essentials
- 01Kick-off: Saturday 18 April 2026, 3:00pm BST at St James' Park
- 02UK TV: Not broadcast live — the 3pm Saturday blackout rule applies
- 03Newcastle: Anthony Gordon out injured, Joelinton suspended, Bruno Guimarães returns to the bench
- 04Bournemouth: unchanged XI after beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates in their last outing
- 05Head-to-head: Newcastle have not beaten Bournemouth in 7 Premier League meetings since Howe left Dean Court
- 06Subplot: Andoni Iraola — visiting manager — has been linked as Eddie Howe's potential successor
Match Card
Newcastle vs Bournemouth — Match Facts.
What Channel Is Newcastle vs Bournemouth On Today?
This is the question a lot of Newcastle fans are typing into Google right now, and the answer is short and slightly frustrating: the match is not being broadcast live on UK television.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth falls into the Saturday 3pm blackout window — a long-standing Premier League and English football convention that prevents live televised matches kicking off between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on a Saturday. The rule is designed to protect attendance at lower-league fixtures across the football pyramid.
The Saturday 3pm Blackout Rule Explained
The blackout is enforced by UEFA Article 48 and the Premier League in agreement with the English Football League. The logic: if every Premier League game were televised at 3pm on Saturday, fans would stay home to watch rather than travelling to watch their local Championship, League One, League Two or non-league side. No Premier League match kicking off in that window is broadcast live in the UK, regardless of how big the fixture is.
How to Follow the Match in the UK
- BBC Radio Newcastle: full live commentary — streamed via newcastleunited.com and the Official Newcastle United App (with a Newcastle account)
- BBC Sport website & app: live text commentary with goal alerts
- Sky Sports News: rolling score updates and Goals on Sunday highlights
- Match of the Day: Saturday evening highlights on BBC One
- Official NUFC social: goal clips and reaction on X and the club app after full time
Where to Watch Live (Outside the UK)
Viewers outside the UK are not affected by the 3pm blackout. In the United States, the match is available on USA Network and via Peacock streaming. International viewers can check their local Premier League broadcast partner listings.
Newcastle United Team News and Confirmed Lineup
Eddie Howe has been forced into three lineup changes from the side that drew at Crystal Palace, with two enforced by injury and suspension.
Newcastle's Three Changes
- Joelinton — suspended (first match of a two-game ban for accumulating 10 yellow cards)
- Anthony Gordon — out with a minor hip flexor injury, not risked
- Jacob Murphy — dropped to the bench
Coming in: Jacob Ramsey, Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga all start.
Newcastle Confirmed Starting XI
Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale
Defence: Tino Livramento, Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman, Lewis Hall
Midfield: Sandro Tonali (captain), Lewis Miley, Jacob Ramsey
Attack: Anthony Elanga, William Osula, Harvey Barnes
Newcastle Bench
Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Murphy, Nick Woltemade, Joe Willock, Dan Burn, Alex Murphy, Bruno Guimarães
Bruno Guimarães Back in the Squad
The biggest positive for Newcastle fans is that Bruno Guimarães returns to the matchday squad after a two-month absence following the injury he picked up against Tottenham in February. He is named on the bench — a cautious reintroduction — but his availability is a major boost for Newcastle's European push over the final weeks of the season.
Key Individual Stories
- Sandro Tonali wears the captain's armband with Bruno, Joelinton, Pope, Trippier and Burn all absent from the leadership core in the XI
- William Osula continues as the starting striker after his goal at Crystal Palace last weekend
- Lewis Miley makes a second consecutive start for the first time since his recovery from injury — a significant moment for the 19-year-old academy midfielder
- Aaron Ramsdale faces the club where he made 37 Premier League appearances and was voted 2019/20 Bournemouth Player of the Year
Bournemouth Team News
Andoni Iraola is expected to name an unchanged XI from the side that stunned Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates in their previous outing — one of the biggest upsets of the Premier League season. With the Cherries unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League matches, there is no reason to change a winning formula.
Missing for Bournemouth: Lewis Cook and Justin Kluivert, both sidelined through injury. The backbone of the side that beat Arsenal — including Marcus Tavernier as the creative hub — all feature.
Bournemouth's Remarkable Run.
Eddie Howe vs His Old Club: The 7-Game Curse
This is the most compelling narrative of the afternoon — and the one most national previews are failing to lead with.
Eddie Howe took over at Bournemouth aged just 31 and turned them from a League Two club on the brink of administration into a Premier League side — the defining managerial achievement of the modern Football League. He left Dean Court in 2020 and joined Newcastle in November 2021.
Since that moment, Howe's Newcastle have played his old club seven times in the Premier League and he has not won any of them: five draws and two defeats.
The Numbers That Haunt Howe
Newcastle vs Bournemouth under Eddie Howe (Premier League, 2021-26):
- 0 wins in 7 meetings
- 5 draws, 2 defeats
- No win at St James' Park or at the Vitality
For a manager whose team have otherwise established themselves as a genuinely difficult side to beat — including wins over Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United in the last two seasons — the consistent inability to beat Bournemouth is a statistical oddity. Today offers another chance to end it.
There is no obvious tactical or footballing explanation — Howe himself has described it as "one of those things" in pre-match media. But in a season where Newcastle's European qualification hopes have effectively ended, finally putting this particular streak to bed would matter on its own terms.
The Andoni Iraola Subplot
Adding genuine intrigue to the afternoon: Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth's head coach, has been linked repeatedly in the national press as a potential successor to Eddie Howe at Newcastle.
The Spaniard's reputation has soared since he arrived at Bournemouth. His aggressive pressing system and attacking football have transformed the Cherries from a side fighting relegation into a team beating Arsenal at the Emirates and chasing a top-10 finish. For a Newcastle ownership group examining managerial options for the summer, Iraola is at the top of a very short list.
The Manager Market Whispers
Iraola has confirmed he will be leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season — which has accelerated speculation linking him with several Premier League clubs. Newcastle's Saudi ownership group, which has been reviewing the club's strategic direction after a difficult 2025-26 season, is reported to view him as the strongest available candidate. Eddie Howe's future, while not publicly under question, depends in part on how the final weeks of the season play out.
Neither Howe nor Iraola has addressed the speculation directly this week. Both are professional enough to treat the game on its own merits. But the subtext hovers over every decision made at St James' Park this afternoon.
The European Race Context
Both clubs sit uncomfortably in mid-table — Newcastle 14th with 42 points, Bournemouth 11th with 45. For European qualification, realistically, neither is in contention:
- Top 4 (Champions League): Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Aston Villa currently hold these positions
- 5th (additional UCL spot via coefficient): Liverpool
- 6th-7th (Europa League): Chelsea, Brentford
- 8th (Conference League playoff): Everton
Newcastle would need an 11-point swing over the final seven games to have any realistic chance of reaching European football — which, given their recent form, is an uphill battle. Bournemouth's 12-game unbeaten run gives them a theoretical shot but their gap to 8th is wider than it looks.
This is, in practical terms, a game about pride, player minutes before the summer, and in Newcastle's case putting pressure on a manager whose position will be the subject of summer reviews.
Also on Saturday: Leeds vs Wolves
Saturday's Premier League card also features Leeds United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers — a 3pm fixture at Elland Road with genuine relegation implications. Leeds, newly promoted and fighting to stay up, cannot afford to drop points against a Wolves side also looking over their shoulder at the bottom three.
Key facts for Leeds vs Wolves:
- Kick-off: 3:00pm BST — same 3pm blackout applies, no UK TV live
- Venue: Elland Road, Leeds
- Leeds key player: Daniel Farke looking to his established senior attackers for goals
- Wolves key player: Matheus Cunha continues as the main attacking threat
If either side loses heavily, the relegation picture at the bottom of the Premier League takes another sharp twist.
Prediction
The Verdict
Bournemouth arrive in better form, with a settled XI and genuine attacking momentum. Newcastle are missing two of their three most important attacking players (Gordon and Joelinton) and a back-to-basics midfield axis of Tonali, Miley and Ramsey will have its work cut out containing Iraola's pressing.
However, St James' Park under lights — with a crowd desperate to see a performance after weeks of frustration — is a genuine equaliser. Expect a tight game, chances at both ends, and real possibility of the first Newcastle-Bournemouth draw of the Howe era becoming something more.
Predicted score: Newcastle 1-1 Bournemouth — with Osula or Elanga getting on the scoresheet for the home side.
What's Next
Regardless of the result, both clubs have seven Premier League games remaining. Newcastle travel to West Ham next weekend; Bournemouth host Brighton. For Eddie Howe, the bigger question — the one that shadows this match from start to finish — is what the final seven games tell the Newcastle ownership about his future.
For now, St James' Park awaits. Kick-off: 3pm.
Follow all Premier League and UK football news at UK News Live.
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