There was not a lot to write home about during Newcastle’s FA Cup quarter-final with Man City, where the Magpies cut toothless figures in the final third and were ultimately undone by two unfortunate deflections in the first half.
Bernardo Silva‘s 13th-minute effort took a wicked ricochet off of Dan Burn‘s leg and looped over a helpless Martin Dubravka, before Sven Botman inadvertently nodded another effort from the Portuguese – which may 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.
No visiting team has managed to prevent Newcastle from scoring at home in the current Premier League season – a bad omen for a West Ham side who have gone nine top-flight games without a clean sheet, the third-longest current run in the league behind Burnley and Sheffield United.
Amid their rearguard woes, there was no shortage of offensive firepower during the Hammers’ 5-0 Europa League last-16 second-leg crushing of Freiburg, which sent David Moyes‘s men through to a tantalising quarter-final with Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen as they endeavour to add to their 2022-23 Europa Conference League crown.
Continental exploits may have taken their toll on both West Ham and Aston Villa on March 17, though, where Michail Antonio‘s diving header was cancelled out by a Nicolo Zaniolo equaliser with 11 minutes of normal time remaining in that clash of the clarets.
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While the stalemate with Villa may feel like two points dropped rather than one gained for West Ham, they are now on a four-game unbeaten run in the top flight and are clinging onto seventh position in the table, although Brighton & Hove Albion have a game in hand and need only make up a two-point deficit.
However, four of West Ham’s last six away matches in all tournaments have seen Moyes’s men draw a blank in front of goal, and they have gone winless in their last four Premier League matches with Newcastle, requiring an 89th-minute intervention from Mohammed Kudus to rescue a 2-2 draw in October.
