Eddie Howe addresses Newcastle United's concerning lack of goals

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe faced the press ahead of welcoming Premier League leaders Liverpool to St James' Park on Wednesday.

The Magpies are looking for a quick return to form following defeat to West Ham and a disappointing collapse against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday.

The results leave Newcastle boss Eddie Howe's side 11th in the Premier League table and the next game isn't much easier with league leaders Liverpool in fine form - they come into the game hot off the back of wins against Champions League winners Real Madrid and defending Premier League champions Manchester City.

A lingering problem this season has been the Magpies threat in front of goal. Howe's men failed to register a single shot on target in the draw at Palace.

Image: Getty

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe addresses their goalscoring woes

In Tuesday's press conference Howe was asked about the lack of threat in front of goal. The Magpies have scored just 14 goals in 13 league games this season - the fifth lowest in the league.

On the lack of goals, Howe said: "I think when you go back to the last two games we've had - West Ham we really created a lot of chances, especially in that first 60 minutes. And I thought we looked like a really good team but we didn't take them.

"Palace was different. What I said after the game; once we'd scored and we were leading the game, we've done our job to that point. As much as we still want to score, we want to go two nil up, the game had never been a free flowing performance from us.

"And if we'd won the game 1-0, we'd have said that was a brilliant away day for us where we didn't play well but we got a great win.

"We didn't defend the cross well enough and then the whole focus comes back on sort of the performance with the ball. Our attacking output was very low and we're not going to deny that or hide that."

Newcastle United amongst the worst in the Premier League for shots on target

For Newcastle, a lot of the problem seems to be actually getting in front of goal to have those efforts. Even then there's no guarantee they'll be any good.

Howe's side have registered 48 shots on target this season, only Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton has managed less. Although there is a long way to go his season it's still miles off the 213 they managed the season prior.

It doesn't get much better for Newcastle who have had just five different players score a goal for them this season - joint lowest with Everton.

It's a far cry from the entertainers-esque goal scoring record The Magpies went on last season. In the 2023/24 campaign, Newcastle had the highest number of different scorers with 20.