Premier League: Newcastle have lost that winning feeling

IF THERE was a moment in time that Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe would wish to recapture it would surely be those short couple of weeks at the end of September and the start of October, when the world was at his feet and the long-held promise of the Toon sleeping-giant looked ready to be fulfilled.

After drawing away to Milan in the Champions League, Howe and the Magpies proceeded to trounce Sheffield United 8-0 away. Followed up by the shock 1-0 home triumph against the reigning Premier League champions Man City, followed by a 2-0 win against Burnley, and at the start of October, a 4-1 humiliation of fellow desert rich behemoth Paris Saint Germain at an electrified St James’ Park. Apart from an unfortunate 1-0 hiccup against Borussia Dortmund, the successes continued in November as Man United, Chelsea, and title pretender Arsenal were put to the sword.

But somewhere along the line, Newcastle fell out of the winning habit and defeats to Everton, Spurs and AC Milan earlier this month, saw them come crashing back to reality.

A 3-0 win against Fulham brought some hope of a comeback but this was followed by a Carabao Cup shoot-out exit to Chelsea followed by two very humiliating defeats at the hands of bottom-of-the-table sides Luton Town and Nottingham Forest.

Sack race

Two wins and six defeats is Newcastle’s meagre tally from December and Howe now faces growing mutterings that he may well be the first Premier League manager to face the sack in the new year. What a difference from October, when Howe was being hailed as the saviour of English football management, a hot prospect for the role of England manager in the future.

So, it is understandable that Howe will be rather keen to start the new year with a win. The only problem being that game is against Liverpool at Anfield and Newcastle have been struggling to dig themselves out of an injury hole that refuses to quit.

It’s not surprising that Newcastle’s downturn coincided with them being hit by a litany of injuries. And that was added to by Jamaal Lascelles missing the Forest game after picking up a knock in the Luton defeat. He joined the injured ranks that include Sandro Tonali, Nick Pope, Joe Willock, Elliot Anderson, Javier Manquillo and Matt Targett. While Newcastle did get the talismanic Joelinton back as a sub for the Forest game, it was not enough to save them from defeat.

Tough run

However, a match against Liverpool rarely offers much consolation to Newcastle managers down the years and even rarer still at Anfield.

2015 was the last time Newcastle beat Liverpool in the Premier League or any other competition for that matter. 1995 was the last year The Toon beat Liverpool at Anfield, in the League Cup, and another year earlier, in 94, when they last beat the Merseysiders on their own patch in the Premier League. That was the one and only time Newcastle won at Anfield in the Premier League era.

And Newcastle will be visiting Anfield at a time when the hosts will be in no mood to be generous as they look to leapfrog Arsenal again to the summit of Premier League. And with Jurgen Klopp set to lose Mo Salah to the Africa Nations Cup and Wataru Endo to the Asian Cup, the German will be keen to make the most of his influential talent before they are removed from Liverpool.

Not the best prospect for Howe and his team so then. But as Newcastle have shown this season in their rollercoaster run, The Toon are at their most dangerous against illustrious opponents and when their back is to the wall.