Player Analysis: Jacob Murphy

Jacob Murphy’s expression said it all, mouth gaping wide in pure bewilderment. Newcastle were 3-0 up inside nine minutes, and Murphy, a peripheral figure for much of his time on Tyneside, had just found the bottom corner from 30 yards. Newcastle would go on to find the back of the net three more times as they dismantled top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur 6-1. But for Murphy, this felt like the culmination of years of hard work.

In five years at Newcastle, Murphy has started just 58 games, and following successive loan spells at West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday, it seemed that in the Championship, he’d found his level. Eddie Howe had other ideas though, and since his arrival in 2021, Murphy has played an increasingly important role in the squad. This season, he’s displaced fan favourite Allan Saint-Maximin, and following his brace against Tottenham, the winger has hit best-ever goal tally for the club with four goals and two assists in 39 appearances.

Murphy came off the bench against Everton and scored to immediately restore Newcastle's three-goal advantage in a 4-1 win at Goodison Park. The Magpies currently sit third in the league, two points above Manchester United (who have a game in hand) and eight above Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, both of whom have played one more than Newcastle.

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