Five tables to highlight soft-touch Newcastle’s slump under Howe | OneFootball

Eddie Howe is coming under increased pressure at Newcastle and these five tables paint a dire picture for the Toon boss…

Howe was firmly in the losers column again this week after the Magpies blew a late lead to lose at Crystal Palace.

As these tables suggest, such failings have become a trend at St James’ Park and part of a wider slump this season…

Newcastle can’t hold a lead

This is perhaps the table most damning on Newcastle: not only their inability to hold a lead, but their habit of allowing leads to turn into losses.

It happened again at Palace, where the Magpies led until the 80th minute.

Fourteen minutes later, they were behind with no time to recover.

It was the latest all-too-familiar failing. Newcastle have led in 21 games this season but lost seven of them, dropping 25 points in total.

Cutting that dire total in half would have Howe’s side in the Champions League places rather than 14th.

Even worse, Newcastle dropped only seven points from winning positions last season – the best record in the Premier League.

Nor can they recover when they go behind

Reinforcing the perception of Newcastle as a soft touch, not only can they not hold a lead, they struggle to fight back when they go behind.

The only game the Toon have rallied to win from behind was amid the madness of the 4-3 victory over Leeds, when they trailed going into added time before their visitors succumbed to a penalty and the latest goal in Premier League history.

Those three points are the only ones Newcastle have gathered from going behind.

They sit second-bottom of this table only because Manchester City so rarely go behind.

Newcastle are a fading force

Another illustration of Newcastle’s soft centre is their struggle to finish games strongly.

From minute 75 to full-time, they have the third-worst record in the league.

In added time, it’s even worse. Only Leeds have been worse after the fourth official’s board goes up.

No team has conceded more than the 18 goals Newcastle have given up from minute 75 – Liverpool and Burnley are second-worst on 14 – while only Leeds have conceded as many goals (four) in added time.

Use the time toggles below to see how Newcastle compare…

More possession, more goals conceded

Very few of Newcastle’s problems can be attributed to being out-played. Indeed, in the possession table, they sit sixth, above third-placed Manchester United.

And their average of 53% possession is up from 51.2% last season.

So what are they doing with it?

They are eighth for creating Big Chances. From those 49 opportunities, they have scored 45 goals – the eighth-highest amount in the league.

But their goals per game scored is down on last season (from 1.79 to 1.4), and goals per game conceded up from 0.55 last term to 1.46.

The 47 goals they have conceded is already equal to last season’s total with six games to play.

So, compared to last season, they have more possession but score fewer goals and concede more. Which doesn’t feel much like a recipe for success.

Worse to come?

Newcastle’s place in the form table is not especially alarming – it is almost typical of their fortunes all season – but with only five teams in worse form of late, it raises concerns about what the Toon Army can expect throughout the remainder of the campaign.

Newcastle have little to play for but pride. Europe is not mathematically beyond them, if it does not appear realistic.

So it is hard to shake the fear that self-preservation becomes a factor among the players.

Will their World Cup stars start switching their focus towards their international commitments before their club duties have been fulfilled?

Beyond that, are key players already eyeing the door? Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali are said to be fighting each other to get to it first.

At least Newcastle’s fixture list is relatively kind. They have struggled against teams in the top half this term, but only two of their six remaining opponents – Arsenal and Brighton – are currently in the top 10.

However, they also face relegation-threatened Forest and West Ham. Will the Magpies match either for motivation? If not, it is hard to see how Howe lasts into next season.