What can we learn from Newcastle United’s Premier League victories this season?
Posted on January 23rd, 2020 | No Comments |
The team are also 6 points better off than they were at the same point last season, and that under a former Champions League winner in Rafael Benitez, though a very poor start last season was compensated for by a much better finish which saw Newcastle finish one place higher than the 14th place Newcastle United hold at the time of writing this piece.
Looking at the ups of the season rather than the downs, here we cover the eight Premier League victories so far for Newcastle this campaign.
Tottenham 0-1 Newcastle – 25/08/19
The Magpies’ first win of the season came in the third game of the season, an impressive 1-0 away victory against Tottenham. The game was settled by a 27th minute goal from Joelinton which fans hoped would be the first of many, though he hasn’t scored since in the Premier League. The victory came despite the home side having 80% of the possession. This victory led to support on Newcastle for success in the season ahead, with punters looking at the best betting sites for UK players. This is little surprise as Tottenham entered the season having reached the final of the Champions league last season.
Newcastle 1-0 Manchester United – 06/10/19
A memorable game for young Matty Longstaff with a 72nd minute strike on his first team debut in what was a vital victory against the more fancied side. Manchester got their revenge though with an emphatic 4-1 victory in the return fixture on Boxing Day.
West Ham 2-3 Newcastle – 02/11/19
After a series of disappointing results after the Spurs game, including a disappointing loss to relegation threatened Norwich and a 5-0 hammering by Leicester, Newcastle’s next victory was a 3-2 win against West Ham. Like Tottenham, West Ham dominated possession (70%) but despite this the Toon found themselves 3-0 up with only 70 minutes to go after goals from Frederico Fernandez, Ciaran Clark, and Jonjo Shelvey.. Despite a spirited comeback by the Hammers in the final part of the game, Newcastle held on for the victory.
Newcastle 2-1 Bournemouth – 09/11/19
Newcastle then secured their first consecutive Premier league victories of the season with a 2-1 home win over Bournemouth. They again had a limited amount of possession but created the better chances to come from behind to pick up the victory with goals by DeAndre Yedlin and a second in two games from Ciaran Clark.
Sheffield United 0-2 Newcastle – 05/12/19
They then had to wait nearly a month before their next success in the league, though the side managed an excellent draw against Premier league champions, Manchester City in the interim. Newcastle beat an impressive Sheffield United side 2-0 away from home with goals by . This was another very important result for the side.
Newcastle 2-1 Southampton – 08/12/19
Just three days later and another victory followed for Newcastle. This saw them beat a then struggling Southampton 2-1 after coming from behind. Jonjo Shelvey was again on the scoresheet, continuing his impressive season to date. He is still Newcastle United’s highest scorer so far this season with 5 goals.
Newcastle 1-0 Crystal Palace – 21/12/19
Just a few weeks later and Newcastle picked up another victory. This saw them beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at home, with Miguel Almiron breaking his goal drought to score a late winner.
Newcastle 1-0 Chelsea – 18/01/20
Newcastle then picked up their most recent victory in a very impressive performance. This saw them beat Chelsea 1-0, with Isaac Hayden netting the winner late into injury time. Like pretty much all of the other Premier League games, this was despite Chelsea dominating possession. Newcastle will now be hoping they can build on this victory and push further up the Premier League table.
Looking at things overall, one motif that runs through all of Newcastle’s eight victories so far is that they won despite the other team dominating possession. Steve Bruce has continued the some would say necessary tradition of being a team that endeavours to be strong in defence and relies on hitting teams on the break. Goalscoring is still a problem for the attacking players (though Almiron has definitely improved in recent games with his 4 goals). The average amount of goals per game for the Magpies is only 1, and most of those have been scored by defenders and midfielders, often in set pieces, rather than by attacking midfielders and forwards. It isn’t very pretty but under the circumstances, Steve Bruce deserves credit for taking us this far under trying circumstances with the current ownership at the club.
One final statistic, if the lads carry exactly the same form as they have so far, they will end the season with 47.5 points, impossible I know so let’s say 47-48, which compares with totals of 44 and 45 from his predecessor, Rafa Benitez, though he managed to get the team to 10th and 13th repectively, both of which are higher than Newcastle’s current 14th place.
NUFCBlog Author: Frankly Various
Frankly Various has written 67 articles on this blog.