(Football news) The Irons were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Aston Villa, while the Magpies’ FA Cup dream came to an end two weekends ago as they lost to holders Manchester City in the quarterfinals.
In Newcastle’s FA Cup quarterfinal match against Man City, there wasn’t much to be excited about. The Magpies played lifeless in the last third and were ultimately undone by two unlucky deflections in the first half.
After a deft bounce off Dan Burn’s knee and looping over a defenseless Martin Dubravka in the 13th minute, Sven Botman unintentionally nodded another attempt from the Portuguese, which might have been going wide, past his diving goalkeeper.
Missing out on a place in the FA Cup semi-finals came just five days after an equally demoralising 3-2 Premier League loss at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge base, leaving Eddie Howe’s troops smack-bang in the middle of the standings in 10th position, four points worse off than their upcoming opponents.
Goals have certainly not been at a premium for Newcastle in the Premier League since the turn of the year, with a staggering 45 flying in during their nine top-flight fixtures in 2024 so far – an average of five per game – but a lack of defensive nous is severely hampering the Magpies’ European bid.
Indeed, Howe’s men have let in multiple goals in seven of their last nine Premier League matches and only have one top-flight clean sheet under their belts in 2024 so far, although that did come in their most recent St James’ Park contest, a resounding 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In the current Premier League season, no away club has been able to stop Newcastle from scoring at home. This is concerning for West Ham, who have gone nine games without a clean sheet in the top tier, which is the third-longest run in the league right now behind Burnley and Sheffield United.
The Hammers’ 5-0 victory over Freiburg in the Europa League last-16 second leg, despite their rearguard troubles, showed off their offensive firepower and advanced David Moyes’ team to a thrilling quarterfinal matchup with Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen as they look to add to their 2022–23 Europa Conference League title.
Also read: Tottenham Hotspurs will play Luton in EPL
