When Eddie Howe described Newcastle United as “self-imploding” against Everton, he perfectly captured the calamitous nature of their damaging 3-2 defeat.
But his pronouncement that defensive mistakes which led to Newcastle’s concessions were “uncharacteristic” felt erroneous. For five months, Newcastle have been error-prone — a critical reason why they languish in 12th in the Premier League, closer to the bottom three (11 points) than the top five (12).
The manner of concessions against Everton was woeful. It was the 3-2 loss to Brentford, the most-recent home league outing, on replay.
For the first time under Howe, Newcastle have lost three successive top-flight matches at St James’ Park, while it is five defeats in six in the Premier League. And teams are just finding it far too easy to score against them.
Across 29 games in all competitions since November 5, Newcastle have kept three clean sheets. In the Premier League, it is two shutouts in 21 since October 5.
There has been a gradual and then increasingly rapid erosion of their defensive fortifications. In their last four league games, Newcastle have conceded 11 times, with their goal breached at least twice in each.
“We’re just making too many individual errors and it’s costing us goals, which you can’t do at this level,” Howe told reporters afterwards. “If you watch the goals we’re conceding, it’s not a good showing.”
He is not wrong. Everton had five shots on target and three Opta-defined ‘big chances’, most gifted by Newcastle mistakes, yet scored three times.
Alarmingly, this has become the rule, not the exception.
Newcastle have conceded 42 times in the league this season, the sixth-most in the division. Yet their expected goals against (xGA) — which measures the quality of shots faced — is 34.59, the fifth-lowest.
With 7.41 goals conceded more than ‘expected’, only West Ham (8.56) and Wolves (7.8) are performing worse against their xGA. Such an extreme differential underlines how frequently Newcastle are almost donating goals to their opponents.
Officially, Opta record Newcastle as having made seven errors directly leading to goals this season, the fourth-most in the top flight, and 29 leading to shots, the second-most.
Yet that does not account for the extent of Newcastle’s unwitting generosity.
For Jarrad Branthwaite’s opener on Saturday, Sandro Tonali lost his marker and Newcastle failed to track runners, conceding for the 16th time from a set piece this season.
Jarrad Branthwaite’s near-post flick yielded Everton’s opener (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Everton’s second was the most lamentable, with Nick Pope only parrying Dwight McNeil’s regulation effort when he should have collected it. No Newcastle defender reacted either, permitting Beto a tap-in.
Newcastle have a genuine goalkeeper issue. Pope dropped clangers earlier in the season and weak concessions against Manchester City and Qarabag preceded Everton. While there will be calls for Aaron Ramsdale to be restored, his shot-stopping has been equally unconvincing. Signing a goalkeeper is, rightly, of utmost priority.
For the visitors’ winner, Anthony Gordon unwisely attempted to dribble inside his own half and carelessly lost possession.
There was also a Malick Thiaw blunder from which Beto should have scored — the ball may have gone out of play — that typified Newcastle’s generally defective defending. Their problems are myriad and appear contagious, with just about every player culpable recently.
Injuries provide some mitigation given every defender, barring Thiaw, has been sidelined at some stage, with Fabian Schar, Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley and Emil Krafth still out.
“I don’t know,” Howe replied, when asked why costly mistakes keep being made. “Team selection is key and that’s the power I have — to make changes. We’re limited defensively with injuries, so work will have to come from the training ground. It’s something we’ve tried to adjust, but haven’t well enough.”
Yet there is precious little training time. Newcastle have played 45 matches already and have not had a clear midweek since August.
“Usually we have a whole week to find an outcome,” Jacob Murphy told reporters. “But we’re having to try and find solutions in-game, which is difficult.”
All season, Newcastle have shipped goals late, with the 15 they have conceded in the final 15 minutes the most in the Premier League. Worryingly, their previously solid starts have also disappeared. Having conceded just nine first-half goals in 30 matches between March and December 2025, only Burnley (13) have shipped more than Newcastle (11) in 2026.
Puzzlingly, Newcastle continue to suffer lapses in concentration immediately after scoring. Brentford’s winner came six minutes after Newcastle equalised, while Everton’s second and third goals came just 105 and 74 seconds respectively after levellers.
“Sloppy from us, a bit naive,” Murphy said. “In hindsight, maybe we could have dealt with it better. You take time celebrating and regroup. To get undone 60 seconds later hurts.”
Newcastle’s home form, exceptional throughout Howe’s tenure, has also collapsed.
The five St James’ defeats from 14 league matches this season is already a joint-high under Howe, with their points per game (1.6) significantly below 2.0 for the first time. The last time Newcastle succumbed to three straight top-flight reversals at home was under Steve Bruce in January-February 2021, but Tyneside dependability has been undermined by their defensive issues, with only Wolves (30) and West Ham (27) conceding more on their own turf.
For the first half of the campaign, Newcastle’s returns at home had (partly) compensated for their sub-par points haul away. Now they are floundering wherever, with just 13 points and three wins on the road.
“We’ve got to get back to the basics of our game,” Howe said. “I still feel we’re capable of scoring goals at any time, but it’s the other end that’s costing us.”
That felt like an optimistic take.
Jason Tindall and Eddie Howe have plenty to ponder (George Wood/Getty Images)
Newcastle had 17 shots against Everton, seven on target, but managed an xG of just 1.03. Gordon started up front and shifted role three times — Nick Woltemade was ineffective as a No 8 and as a No 9 — and his repositioning spotlighted Howe’s constant tinkering in search of attacking inspiration. Captain Bruno Guimaraes, currently injured, has now failed to start 14 Premier League games and Newcastle have won none.
They have scored 40 times this season but are underperforming their xG (41.55) — a lethal cocktail when combined with their defensive issues. “We can’t keep waiting for the next game to put things right,” Murphy said. “Time isn’t on our side.”
Especially not when Newcastle keep self-imploding defensively.