Lack of goals and loss of defensive solidity – Newcastle’s problems laid bare

Newcastle’s season of remarkable promise has hit the buffers in recent weeks after a run of disappointing results.

Eddie Howe’s men have re-ignited the city with their twin charges up the Premier League table and to the Carabao Cup final, but having lost to Manchester United at Wembley, they have slipped to sixth in the table.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what has gone wrong and how it can be put right during what remains of the campaign.

Having tasted defeat in only two of their first 29 matches in all competitions this season, the Magpies have found themselves on the wrong end of 2-0 scorelines in each of their last three, albeit against Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City.

Perhaps more worrying, however, is that they have won only one of the eight league games they have played since Boxing Day, and that has significantly loosened their grip on a place in the top four.

Since they hit three in the league at Leicester on December 26, they have found the back on the net on only nine occasions in 13 games in all competitions, and only three times in eight top-flight fixtures.

By contrast, a team which conceded a miserly 13 goals in the first 22 games of the league campaign has leaked four in the two since and started to look uncharacteristically vulnerable from set-pieces.

Head coach Howe has made no secret of his desire to play on the front foot and his team’s industry and desire, which fuelled a breathless pressing game, coupled with a lightning counter-attacking threat, paid impressive dividends during the first half of the campaign.

However, that approach is energy-sapping and tired legs and fatigued minds have hindered the necessary co-ordination between the attacking and midfield units to