History shows that we have won 35 Premier League games against Newcastle, the most the Magpies have lost to a single opponent in the competition. A 36th would be the perfect way to kick-start a huge week with Inter Milan and Chelsea looming on the horizon.
Tough times on Tyneside
Newcastle United players in a huddle
Despite a bright start that saw them unbeaten in their opening four games, Eddie Howe’s team are winless in their five Premier League matches since, losing to Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea in the past fortnight to leave them 12th in the table.
An opening day win against Southampton, success over Tottenham Hotspur and a 1-1 draw against Manchester City had seen them stretch their unbeaten home league run to 10 games, but a 1-0 loss to the Seagulls ended that as they also failed to score on their own patch for the first time in 23 league games.
However, some cheer came in midweek as they gained swift revenge against Chelsea by dumping them out of the League Cup with a 2-0 victory at St James’ Park, setting up a home quarter-final against Brentford.
Arteta on Newcastle: “The league position after nine games is very tricky when you see the fixtures that they’ve had and certain situations that they’ve been through as well, but they’re a fantastic team.
“They’re really well coached, they’re very intense. It’s a great stadium to play in, you know what you’re going to face there, so we're looking forward to it.”
Howe: “It was good to see so many players performing [in midweek]. A lot of players that came in did themselves no harm at all.
“I think three games in six days for us is a challenge, especially with an early kick-off again, so we're going to have to see how the players are physically and pick the team according to physical well-being.”
Gabriel could return to the side after limping off against Liverpool last week and missing our League Cup win over Preston North End, while William Saliba is available in the Premier League again after serving his ban against Liverpool and also featuring at Deepdale.
It remains to be seen if Ben White features who has picked up a joint injury and missed training this week, while Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney all remain unavailable.
For the Magpies, Jacob Murphy missed the win over Chelsea with a hamstring injury, while Alexander Isak came off in that game with a knock which continues to be assessed.
The pace of Gordon and Harvey Barnes out wide is also one of their strengths, who have scored five of their nine league goals between them and enjoyed strong performances against us in the past. It is crucial we do not allow Howe’s side to isolate our full-backs with space around them, so forcing Gordon and Barnes to shift the ball sideways or backwards must be our aim. With the pacy Isak also a big threat, I do not expect us to be caught holding a high line.
While poor finishing has blighted their campaign so far, I feel the Magpies’ weak spot is their defensive structure. Fabian Schar has looked less comfortable alongside Dan Burn in central defence, while full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall can struggle to deal with 1v1s. If our two wide forwards are at their best, we can experience plenty of success down the flanks. Howe’s back four was pulled all over the place by Chelsea last weekend, and we must look to replicate that.
Quietening the home fans is important at St James’ Park, but Newcastle have been sluggish early on in games too. In the opening 40 minutes of matches this season their goal difference is -5, falling behind in six of their nine games. Catching them cold in the first half could set us up for the type of well-controlled away victory that’s become our hallmark.
Facts and stats
Bukayo Saka scores against Liverpool
Newcastle have won two of their last three Premier League home games against us, as many as they had in their previous 19 at St James’ Park.
We last lost consecutively on the road in May 2022, the second game of which came at Newcastle.
We have kept 30 clean sheets against Newcastle in the Premier League, more than any other side has kept against another in the competition.
We have scored 27 goals from set pieces in the Premier League since the start of last season (excluding penalties); the most of any team in this period. Our 21 headed goals are also the most of any side in the competition since the start of last term.
Each of Newcastle’s last eight Premier League goals against us have been scored by different players, and have come from open play,
Newcastle have scored nine goals from an xG of 14.3 in the Premier League this season, netting roughly five goals fewer than expected – only Manchester United have a larger negative difference in the competition this term.
Alexander Isak averages a goal every 133 minutes in the Premier League – only Andrew Cole (one every 121 minutes) has a better average for the Magpies. The Swede has scored 11 goals in his last 11 league appearances at St James’ Park.
Anthony Gordon has been involved in 17 goals across his last 22 home Premier League appearances (10 goals, 7 assists).
John Brooks is the man in the middle for this encounter, marking the third time that he has officiated one of our matches following on from last season’s FA Cup loss against Liverpool, and the 3-0 success at Brighton.
Newcastle have won four times from the seven games of theirs he has overseen, but only one of the last four. In his three Premier League appointments this season, the Leicestershire official has dished out 12 bookings and awarded one penalty.
Almost exactly 12 months ago, we fell to a controversial 1-0 defeat at St James’ Park when Gordon’s goal VAR-assisted goal secured the points, but we can take solace in we haven’t lost consecutive away league games against Newcastle since 1996.
In May 2023 a fine Odegaard strike and a Fabian Schar own goal saw us claim a 2-0 victory as we continued to push for the title, while the year before that it was a different story as White put through his own net and Bruno Guimaraes wrapped up the points to derail our quest for a return to the Champions League, ending our three-match winning run on Tyneside.
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