Newcastle United's front three starting to fire up despite drawing a blank against Bournemouth

With only one goal between them the statistics would suggest Newcastle United’s front three are struggling, but their 2-1 victory over Bournemouth was further evidence of their improvement and gives a potentially exciting glimpse of the future.

With their forward line’s blend of pace, power and skill, the Magpies have found the ideal balance and they are going to cause plenty of teams problems after Eddie Howe’s side were run ragged in defeat. Newcastle had 20 shots on goal, with nine on target. The goals will surely come soon.

Miguel Almiron

There are things you can criticise him for and a failure to score a goal since his £21m move from Atlanta United in January is obviously a big concern. His finishing is poor and has got worse as his confidence in front of goal has drained, but do not underestimate how important the Paraguay international is to the Magpies.

Almiron simply does not stop running, ever. His engine is incredible and he regularly covers more than 14km over the course of 90 minutes. This gives a clue to his importance. Against Bournemouth, it was Almiron who repeatedly tracked back to dispossess a midfielder or an attacker as the visitors built an attack.

On two occasions, his intervention sparked a loud ovation from the home crowd, the unfussy, ugly side of a forward’s game, but he does it brilliantly.

And he remains a constant threat going forward. He has to be one of the fastest players in the Premier League, which means teams cannot hold a high defensive line and constantly have to leave extra players back to cover the danger of a Newcastle counter.

West Ham were torn apart the previous weekend and only bad luck and poor finishing saved Bournemouth from a heavy defeat as they were also cut open on the break

Joelinton

He is a work in progress and a bit of a headache for Bruce as he does not look like a striker who is going to score many goals. When you spend £40m on a centre forward, surely that is what you want their main contribution to be.

He has scored once, in the 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, but is not a poacher or a natural finisher. The Brazilian missed a couple of decent chances against Bournemouth and more worryingly, had he been more alert, could have had a tap in when Adam Ramsdale failed to hold on to a Jetro Willems shot, but was caught flat-footed.

Yet, against West Ham and again at the weekend against Bournemouth, Joelinton showed a far more impressive side to his game.

When you are set up to play like Newcastle are, with a five man defence, wing backs and two rapid wingers, you need a target man to hold the ball up, to impose himself physically on the opposition, to get hold of the ball, whether delivered in the air or to feet and keep it until support gallops up from the rear.

Joelinton was magnificent at this, especially in the second half when Bournemouth went in search of an equaliser. He was able to relieve the pressure on the defence and bring others into the game.

At one stage, the 23-year-old was surrounded by four Bournemouth players, took the ball down on his chest, held off two challenges and still had the fancy footwork to slip the ball out wide for Almiron who had sprinted up alongside him. Again, it drew an ovation from the home crowd.

Allan Saint-Maximin

What a signing the young Frenchman is starting to look. Fast, direct, skilful and fearless, Saint-Maximin has terrorised every defence he has played against and is getting more dangerous the fitter he gets as he is able to maintain the speed and regularity of his attacks.

He is almost as quick as Almiron, but it is what he does with the ball at his feet that makes him special. If you are defender and he is running at you, be afraid. He can go either way, at speed, he can change direction like a slalom skier and all the time the ball stays attached to his feet.

With short but powerful legs, he can slow down and draw the defender close before bursting away from them. Defenders must feel like they have spent 90 minutes in a tumble dryer trying to mark him. At one stage in the second half, he beat five players, setting up a chance for Willems.

Bournemouth knew about the threat and started with two players closing ASM down, but they needed three in second half because he kept wriggling free. If he stays fit, Newcastle might just have found their own Wilfried Zaha.