As Newcastle United's winning run takes them up to fourth in the Premier League table, football writer Ben Bloom looks at whether Eddie Howe's side are genuine title contenders.
It was just six weeks ago that the dreaded word – relegation – was starting to raise its ugly head.
A demoralising 4-2 defeat at Brentford had extended Newcastle’s winless run to four games, dropping Eddie Howe’s side down to 12th in the table with only two victories from their previous 11 Premier League matches.
"There’s a vulnerability about us that we need to fix," admitted the Newcastle manager after that Brentford loss.
"We’ve got a lot of work to do in different areas but there is a very, very good team in there, I have no doubts about that."
Nine games later, that enduring belief in his side’s quality has proved abundantly correct.
A flawless run has seen the club equal their all-time record streak of nine victories in all competitions, and discussions about relegation have been replaced by suggestions that Newcastle could even be capable of challenging for the title.
With Liverpool faltering in recent weeks, Howe’s side have moved to within nine points of the league leaders – albeit, having played one game more.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
20 | +28 | 47 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
21 | +22 | 43 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
21 | +10 | 41 |
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
21 | +15 | 38 |
| 5 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
21 | +15 | 37 |
When asked if that gap was insurmountable, Premier League record goalscorer and former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer told Match of the Day: "No, it’s not.
"The form that they [Newcastle] are in, the way they are looking – they are defensively solid, keeping clean sheets. There is no doubt that they have got the system working.
"And with [Alexander Isak] up front, you’ve got a chance."
The turnaround
In the wake of that Brentford defeat, Howe held one-to-one meetings with every member of Newcastle’s first-team squad.
He also made the crucial tactical tweak of pulling Sandro Tonali back into a deeper-lying, more central midfield role than he had been operating in up to that point this season.
The subsequent turnaround has been astounding.
| Opponent | Score | Competition |
| Leicester (H) | 4-0 | Premier League |
|---|---|---|
| Brentford (H) | 3-1 | EFL Cup |
| Ipswich (A) | 4-0 | Premier League |
| Aston Villa (H) | 3-0 | Premier League |
| Man Utd (A) | 2-0 | Premier League |
| Spurs (A) | 2-1 | Premier League |
| Arsenal (A) | 2-0 | EFL Cup |
| Bromley (H) | 3-1 | FA Cup |
| Wolves (H) | 3-0 | Premier League |
Newcastle are the only club with a 100 per cent record across their last six Premier League matches, and they have scored more goals during that time (18) than every club except Liverpool (19). No team have conceded fewer than Newcastle’s one.
Including cup fixtures, Howe’s current side have now joined the Newcastle teams managed by Kevin Keegan in 1994 and Rafael Benitez in 2016 (when the Magpies were in the Championship) in achieving a club-record nine successive wins.
They have been lethal in attack, scoring at least twice in each of their nine wins, led by world football’s hottest forward right now.
Isak has netted 16 goals in his last 16 games, while his current Premier League scoring streak extends to Newcastle’s last eight matches – just three behind Jamie Vardy’s competition record, set in 2015/16.
"Isak is the complete striker," said Shearer. "He is in red-hot form. No-one can stop him.
"He said it himself that he feels amazing. And when you feel amazing you go onto a football pitch not hoping you’re going to score goals, it’s knowing you’re going to score goals. It’s an unbelievable feeling."
Isak is far from alone though, with nine different scorers contributing goals across Newcastle’s nine-game winning run.
They have also been just as impressive defensively, conceding only three times, despite having to make do without their injured first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Is the gap too big?
When they suffered that defeat at Brentford in early December, Howe’s side found themselves 15 points off top spot – a deficit now reduced to nine.
No club has ever come from as far back as 15 points to win the Premier League title.
The widest margin overturned was by Arsenal, who closed a 13-point gap on Manchester United – with the benefit of a game in hand – to finish top of the 1997/98 table by a solitary point.
Man Utd have twice come back from 12-point deficits to win titles in 1992/93 and 1995/96, the second of which was at a later stage of the season (after 23 games) than Newcastle’s current situation, and they went on to win the league by four points.
So there is, just about, precedent for what Newcastle would have to achieve from this point of the campaign to become Premier League champions for the first time.
"It’s an unusual Premier League season in terms of the league table," said Howe at his pre-match press conference before Bournemouth’s visit at 12:30 GMT Saturday.
"It's very tight and congested. I think every team, going right the way down the league, will look at it and think: ‘If we can get some consistent results together we could be in the mix’.
"I think it works both ways, so now we have to guard against falling off from where we’ve been.
"We’ve really enjoyed the run, and we’ve put ourselves in a really good position. Now it’s about foot to the floor, and trying to win more."
The opportunity is there for them to mount a proper title challenge over the next few weeks.
They will be favourites to win their next three Premier League fixtures - after hosting Bournemouth this weekend, Howe’s side will face Southampton away and Fulham at home.
Following cup duties, they then take on three of their top-four rivals in Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool before the end of February.
If they can maintain their excellent run and take points off their fellow teams near the summit, perhaps unlikely title dreams might start to become reality.
Should that prove beyond them, a return to the UEFA Champions League must now be firmly within their sights. What a difference six weeks makes.
