Sloping pitch, Newcastle commercial end of season and BBC match facts

Newcastle are always a difficult place to get to and I read a comment yesterday that the pitch slopes from goal to goal. Is this true? I think it’s important, but it doesn’t matter for this post.

You see, this is an article about what needs to happen today and there is one element that works in our favor today and that is that Newcastle played the Champions League this week and that would have taken something away from them. But Fenerbahçe also took something from us.

I was nervous for the Fenerbahçe game just because I thought we were starting to look a little tired in the games leading up to the game, but it turned out we approached the game a little differently and we managed to keep our composure. It wasn’t the most exciting game, but we got a result that allows us to take it a little easier next week.

But that means we have to go again today and as the approach will be different at Newcastle I’m nervous again. I’m nervous, because, as I’ve written before, we entered the end of the season much earlier this season and that’s because of where we are competing.

And there needs to be another article about that, about where we are and why things are different now and I’ll start with that, but that’s why every game now is as important as the one we just played and the one to come. The fact that we have the opportunity to rest one or three players or approach the Red Bull Salzburg match a little differently is a bonus that we should be very grateful for.

And we only got this opportunity because we did the work before this game and that’s probably because we treated this season like it was all business. I’ll come back later, but it’s a big game and three points today and I’m going to start believing in it.

Match the BBC Facts

• Newcastle are unbeaten in their last 17 home league matches against Aston Villa (W11 D6), winning the last four by an aggregate score of 13-1.

• Aston Villa have taken four points from their last two Premier League matches against Newcastle (1 win, 1 draw), more than in their previous six (3 – 1 win, 0 draws, 5 losses).

• Newcastle United are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League home matches (W6 D2) and have started 2026 with back-to-back wins at St James’ Park, beating Crystal Palace and Leeds. The last time the Magpies won their first three Premier League home games in a year was in 2012, the third game of which was against Aston Villa.

• Having scored in 10 consecutive Premier League matches between MD11 and MD20 this season – scoring the most goals (24) and having the best conversion rate (18.9%) over that period – Aston Villa have failed to score in their last two, with 33 unsuccessful shots.

• Over the past two seasons, only Man City (70) and Brentford (63) have scored more Premier League home goals than Newcastle (62), with the Magpies scoring two or more goals in each of their last eight. They last achieved this in nine consecutive top-flight home games between December and March during the 1931-32 season.

• Only Arsenal (21) have won more away points in the Premier League this season than Aston Villa (18), despite a negative goal difference for the Villans away from home (15 scored, 16 conceded). Their 1.64 points per game on the road in 2025-26 is their best in any campaign since 2009-10 (1.68).

• Newcastle have lost just two of their last nine Premier League matches against teams starting the day in the top three (W4 D3), while manager Eddie Howe has 12 wins in total against teams in the top three (4 with Bournemouth, 8 with Newcastle). The only England manager with more is Sam Allardyce (13).

• Newcastle’s Eddie Howe has won 135 Premier League matches and needs a victory to tie Roy Hodgson on 136, putting him third on the list of wins by English managers. Only Harry Redknapp (236) and Sam Allardyce (178) have more.

• In his last two Premier League games before Christmas, Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers scored twice in both games against West Ham and Man Utd. Since Christmas, however, he has taken the most shots without scoring any player (15).

• Bruno Guimarães has been involved in nine Premier League goals at St James’ Park this season (7 goals, 2 assists), the most of any Newcastle player. The last Magpies central midfielder involved more in a season was Georginio Wijnaldum in 2015-16 (11 goals, 2 assists).