Totally agree but you know what Roy's like. He likes to pick the same old faces every game irrespective of who the opposition is and who's in form so I'd be surprised if Luka didn't get his place back as soon as he is fit.

A splendid performance yesterday.
Milivojevic was not missed due to the prowess of the midfielders and full credit to them.

Sadly, I have to agree. As has already been said, had he played we wouldn't have seen PvA's free kick goal. If Luka comes back in as captain he'll want to take over that role and will produce his usual (this season) dead-ball dross.

Unfortunately, Roy has his favourites and I suspect Luka will go straight back into the team.

Jairo was doing a decent job at LB, but as soon as PVA was fit again, he was out.

There should be competition for places, not automatic selection. Which would mean Benteke is out.

I accept that Riedewald did a decent job at left-back and surpassed expectations but PVA is a natural left-back with greater experience in this position, has scored goals from open-play and as we witnessed on Saturday has the ability to score from free-kicks.I understand Hodgson's rationale for bring PVA back into the side at the expense of Riedewald.

Luka would not be missed. PVA takes a good penalty should we get one, also better corners and as we saw on Saturday a decent delivery on free kicks. He is also playing well at the moment gets forward with pace down the channel and links up well with Wilf.

I've always been a big fan of Luka but am struggling these days to remember why that is, or was.

His set pieces have only yielded one goal this season as far as I can remember, our penalties have dried up so no use there, he gets booked almost every game, lacks mobility, not really picking passes any more, liable to dither/give the ball away in vulnerable positions.. the list goes on really.

As mentioned, was a big fan and don't think he is the worst player in the world but he has been poor most of this season and some of last.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

The Problem with all our central midfielders is there is no goal treat with any of them. Luka, Kouyate, McArthur, McCarthy and Meyer, 91 appearances this season and 2 outfield goals, very poor considering we always play 3 central.

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

I'm going to stick up for Luka a bit here. The last time he was out I thought we missed his bite. In this game however Newcastle had only two central midfielders as their set up allowed them to have two marking Zaha constantly. They were therefore outnumbered in centre midfield and it showed. We totally bossed that area throughout the match. I believe we would have done exactly the same if Luka had been playing albeit he might have insisted on taking the set pieces. But that sort of thing is easy to change if someone else is getting better results so it should not be a given that he takes them if he plays.

Luka is a stopper and a damn good one at that. He is sort of a mixture of Cabaye and Jedinak although and rather unfortunately for us, does not possess their greatest strengths in abundance. Is he better than Kouyate, McArthur or McArthy, it is very difficult to say. If he doesn't start at Brighton and they begin to dominate the midfield I am sure there will be some who demand his immediate introduction.

He breaks up play and commits a lot of fouls which can be beneficial to our team especially away from home.Since the start of the 2017-18 season he has picked up 30 yellows and a red.