We can see it with our own eyes that Newcastle have not been the same defensively over the past few months, but the stats paint an even more alarming picture.
Before Nick Pope’s injury, we had the fourth-best defence in the Premier League, conceding 14 goals in 14 games, picking up six clean sheets in that time.
Since December 2nd (the night of Pope’s injury as we beat Man Utd 1-0), we have conceded 31 goals in 12 games, with our only clean sheet in that time coming against 10-man Fulham on 16th December; which happens to be the last time we won at St James’ Park.
No Premier League side has conceded more goals since Pope’s injury. Even Sheffield United (27) and Burnley (26) have conceded less than the 31 we’ve let in over the past two and a half months. To put that into context, we let in just 33 goals across the entire 2022/23 season, where we ended the campaign with the joint best defence in the Premier League alongside champions Man City.
Another alarming statistic can be seen below, as The Athletic have shared the expected goals (xG) each Premier League defence has allowed since the turn of the year. Arsenal are top with just 1.9xG, while we sit rock bottom – and by some distance – after allowing for an xG of 20.5.
As NUFCBlog writer Jake Jackman has pointed out, we’ve only restricted the opposition to under 1xG on one occasion since Nick Pope’s injury, and that was against 10-man Fulham. Before Pope’s injury, we restricted the opposition to under 1xG on eight occasions in 14 games.
The swing has been huge. Pope is a huge miss – his presence, shot-stopping and sweeper-keeper qualities give the defence so much confidence – but it’s hugely concerning how our numbers have fallen off a cliff since his injury.
