This is the big Newcastle United problem at this moment in time | OneFootball

A key issue is currently threatening to undermine Newcastle United in this massively important period of the season.

Loads of factors decide the outcome of any match.

However, for Newcastle United, this particular factor is increasingly looking to be a threat to our upward curve of form.

Basically, the overall performances are better than the final scorelines.

The latest on Wednesday night, the match ending Bayer Leverkusen 2 Newcastle 2.

I think that since the November internationals, this issue has become ever clearer.

These last half dozen Newcastle United matches seeing a 2-1 win over Man City, 2-1 defeat in Marseille, 4-1 at Everton, the home matches that saw a 2-2 draw with Spurs and 2-1 win over Burnley, then this 2-2 draw in Germany.

If Newcastle United could only sort this undermining key factor out, then I think pretty much all of those last six scorelines would have ended up more positive for NUFC.

Go back 12 months

Hopefully, we will see history repeating itself.

When Newcastle United face Sunderland on Sunday, it will be exactly a year to the day since this happened, an incredible run of form.

Saturday 14 December 2024 kicked off a stunning nine match winning run.

However, it wasn’t just the fact Newcastle United were winning, it was HOW they were winning match after match.

These were the nine results, the nine wins, 4-0 v Leicester, 3-1 v Brentford, 4-0 v Ipswich, 3-0 v Villa, 2-0 v Man U, 2-1 v Spurs, 2-0 v Arsenal, 3-1 v Bromley, 3-0 v Wolves.

As you can see, nine wins in a row across three competitions.

Look how we did it though, 26 goals scored across the nine victories, six of them scoring three or four.

The exceptions weren’t too shabby either, the three wins where Newcastle United scored ‘only’ two, were away from hime against ‘big six’ opposition.

The result and performance was incredible, taking the two big chances, we came back at Tottenham after such an early blow going behind and clinical finishing. Actually, the 2-0 win at Man U is the one that stands out in this nine match wining run because United should have smashed Man U by five or six if taking half our chances.

Which brings me back to the present…

By far the biggest issue at the moment, threatening to undermine Newcastle’s overall performances, isn’t conceding late goals. Instead, it is not taking more of the countless chances Newcastle players are creating!

Just like that run that kicked off in December 2024, Newcastle United in these last half dozen games should have been scoring three or four every match. Even when we did score four against Everton it should have been more!

Look back at that Man City match, Harvey Barnes could have had four and Big Nick a hat-trick, as well as other great chances for others. Barnes actually scored his more difficult two chances. Just think how you would have felt if say the ref had disallowed Barnes’ winning goal? I would have been fuming we hadn’t won by three or four, never mind having to settle for a draw.

Spurs should have been dead and buried even before the first goal went in on 71 minutes. Burnley the same, game should have been well gone long before the late penalty and stress. Last night in the BayArena, once United equalised there could and should have been only one winner as chance after chance was created but only Miley heading home (though the woodwork massively against us, just as it had been against Burnley). Marseille was the tightest of the six games but still I thought it was a story of missed chances.

Yes, conceding goals, especially some late ones in recent games, has of course been a big negative. However, the biggest factor by far, has been the failure to score from more of the many many chances created in these last six matches.

Newcastle United have scored at least one goal in each of their last seventeen matches, you have to go back to when we made it three Premier League away goalless draws in a row, at Bournemouth, almost three months ago, for the last failure to score.

However, in the last eleven matches, only the Everton one saw Newcastle United score more than two goals. With no clean sheets in the last seven games, that just further amplifies why Eddie Howe’s side need to score more goals, take more of the chances. As well as of course, hopefully tightening it up at the back as well.

The cavalry arrive…

Just maybe, we are now seeing the right players turning up at the right time.

To coincide with that time period 12 months ago when Newcastle United went on that stunning nine match winning run, scoring goals for fun, just maybe we are seeing two very important players now available.

The goalscoring and goal creating Anthony Gordon that we all know is capable of tearing apart the opposition, it looks like he is back available up and running now judged on the last three games. Plus of course, Yoane Wissa now getting some cameos finally off the bench ahead of him building up to starting.

That nine game winning run that started on 14 December 2024, effectively swept Newcastle United to a second Champions League qualification in three seasons AND also set us on our way to Wembley (the win against Brentford in the quarter-final and the semi-final first leg away victory at Arsenal).

I think that if we now get both Wissa and Gordon on the pitch together on a regular basis, we will see plenty of goals flowing from them, plus helping teammates, especially Nick Woltemade, to score far more as well.

Where better place to start this than on Sunday, converting a healthy proportion of the chances that will come our way on Wearside.