The Athletic have published a stat graphic which will make Newcastle fans absolutely livid
Remember last season when Newcastle United finished level with Manchester City for the fewest Premier League goals conceded? Those were good times.
Considering it's pretty much the exact same backline, although they've not always consistently been fit at the same time this season, the drop-off in our team's ability to prevent goals is astonishing.
In 2024 Newcastle have by far the highest xG for goals conceded in the league and it's not even close.
xG is a stat for YouTube pundit wannabes but we've been suckered in by this one
We don't put much stock in xG as a metric here at nufc.news, it all just seems to be totally fabricated figures, but when it's showing such a huge disparity between us and the next worst in the league, it becomes a talking point.
The Athletic have kindly knocked up a graphic showing just how poor Newcastle's defence has been since the turn of the year and it doesn't make for good reading.
Considering the only person missing now is Nick Pope after Sven Botman recovered from his knee injury, it makes you wonder just what's going wrong.
Our midfield, particularly in the absence of Joelinton, has become a thoroughfare for attack-minded teams. There doesn't seem to be anybody capable of breaking up the play. Sean Longstaff and Lewis Miley don't have the pace to keep up with opposing players so they're able to just breeze on through.
What is going on with our defenders?
Then when they get to the defence they're faced with Dan Burn who may as well be wearing lead shoes, Sven Botman who seems to have forgotten everything he knew while he was out injured, Fabian Schar who may have taken one too many blows to the head and Kieran Trippier who, in fairness, is back in form this year, but we can't overlook his form at the back-end of 2023.
That graphic shows Newcastle's xG conceded in 2024 to be 20.5 - the number of goals Newcastle have actually conceded in 2024 is ... 20! That can't all be down to Martin Dubravka or Dan Burn, can it? Is there a lack of confidence in the Slovakian that's causing apprehension at the back? Is it something in training? Poor game plans? What the hell is happening?
We're not sure where the blame lies here, but that stat has to be a very worrying read for Eddie Howe and if he doesn't fix it soon, there will be some serious discussions to be had behind the scenes at St James' Park.
