This has been an ‘interesting’ start to the season for Newcastle United fans.
We have been forced to accept for some time that matters off the pitch would have serious consequences for the early stages of this 2025/2026 season.
Alexander Isak was determined to leave St. James’ Park.
Yoane Wissa was determined to work his way to Newcastle United.
The summer transfer window as a whole had been relatively slow, with Eddie Howe also struggling with injuries, and for others the longer-term return to full fitness was still underway.
Ahead of Saturday’s match against Fulham, I hear a lot of people (journalists, pundits, Newcastle fans…) asking when Newcastle United will find their goalscoring form.
I want you to consider two sets of statistics…
Opening six Newcastle United matches this 2025/26 season;
Villa 0 Newcastle 0
Newcastle2Liverpool3
Leeds 0 Newcastle 0
Newcastle 1 Wolves 0
Newcastle1 Barcelona2
Bournemouth 0 Newcastle 0
Played 6 Won 1 Draw 3 Lost 2 Goals Scored 4 Goals Conceded 5
Newcastle United’s most recent six games from this 2025/26 season;
Newcastle4Bradford1
Newcastle1Arsenal2
Union SG 0 Newcastle 4
Newcastle 2 Forest 0
Brighton 2 Newcastle 1
Newcastle3Benfica0
Played 6 Won 4 Draw 0 Lost 2 Goals Scored 15 Goals Conceded 5
The problem with statistics is that there are many different ways to present them.
Different variations on the truth.
For those who want to be negative, they want to focus solely on AND presenting the Premier League statistics, especially when it comes to goals and results.
To me, that’s a ridiculous way to look at what’s happened with Newcastle United so far, to ignore all the other results (and goals and performances) in other competitions.
You also need to take into account all the various other factors, and not simply present chosen statistics to suit your agenda.
The fact is that Newcastle United have scored in all their last six games, fifteen goals in total, winning four games and losing two. We all know what happened in the Arsenal and Brighton games, not outside the possibility that if things had gone just a little bit differently this could have been six wins out of six, Newcastle still leading deep into the game against Arsenal despite finishing second with their performance, while Newcastle were well on top at Brighton and likely to get the winner but were beaten by the Seagulls at the break. That’s football, that happens.
However, the underlying facts, the statistics, also indicate that Newcastle United have been much better in these most recent six games, compared to the first six.
I’m sure some of you will say, there’s been less opposition overall over the last six games, which may be true. That’s kind of the point, or a big part of what I’m getting at.
The fact is, however, that Eddie Howe was in a much better position to handle the last six games, as opposed to the first six games. You know, like having a striker available…
What is more relevant when assessing the state in which Newcastle United are to get a result in this Fulham match in the Premier League on Saturday… Should we give so much weight to what happened, for example in the early goalless draw at Villa and Leeds, or should we look at matches like Benfica, Forest and Union SG, even that (second half of the) match at Brighton, the last four matches of United?
In addition to Woltemade and Wissa signing so late in the window and having no pre-season with their new teammates and being unavailable for the opening games, the attacking options were further crushed by Gordon’s three-match suspension, plus injuries to Wissa and Ramsey.
Against the likes of Benfica we saw how devastating Woltemade and Gordon can be. That third goal when they set up Barnes together was simply glorious.
Newcastle United were undeniably poor in that first half at Brighton, but this was an away game against a very good team who have made a habit of winning against the likes of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Eddie Howe
Apart from that, the only time in the last six games that Newcastle United have come second in terms of performance is against Arsenal. Who were at the top of their game and showed why they are at the top of the league and favorites to stay there.
This article is not to say that Newcastle United is here now, that everything is perfect and that there will be no more setbacks.
This is football and so many teams are competitive these days, whether it’s the Premier League, the Champions League or the League Cup.
What I would say though is that Eddie Howe and Newcastle United are coming. They are now well on their way to recovering from the many obstacles that made the start of the season so difficult.
As someone once said/sang: maybe NUFC is “halfway” and Newcastle United isn’t simply “Livin’ on a Prayer”…
#truth #casualty #Newcastle #Uniteds #form #goals