· 5 November 2025, 17:00
Newcastle United are back in action tonight under the lights at St James' Park as Athletic Club Bilbao become our latest opponents in the Champions League. Kick off is at 8 pm, live on TNT Sports.
For many fans, the emotions on Sunday are still pretty raw, having watched Newcastle capitulate against West Ham United, falling to a 3-1 defeat.
Still without a win away from home in the Premier League, things aren't looking great for the Magpies.
However, in the Champions League, things are looking far better, and Newcastle have every chance to pick up more points in Europe's top competition tonight.
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Eddie Howe demands a bounce back tonight
Eddie Howe expects his team to use Sunday's result as a catalyst
Eddie Howe is expecting his players to use Sunday's defeat as fuel to get them over the line tonight in front of the home fans, as he wrote in his programme notes.
"Last Sunday, our focus returned to the Premier League when we travelled down to London to face West Ham United. We made a fast start when Jacob Murphy scored an excellent goal, and we looked to build on our lead. We also know that if we drop below the high standards we set ourselves, every team at this level is capable of beating anyone else.
"While I could never fault the players' commitment or work ethic, we didn’t manage to hit the levels we’ve shown in the previous three matches and were unable to get the outcome we wanted as a result.
"We have an incredibly strong dressing room, full of very good professionals who deserve the praise that’s been given to them in recent times, but importantly, who never shy away from learning from any setbacks and reacting well to difficult moments. Time and time again, a difficult match has been the catalyst for a strong and consistent run, and we will all work hard to ensure this is the case again.
"This process began immediately on the training pitch, and the beauty of our fixture list is that we never need to wait too long for the next match to get back on track. It comes tonight in the Champions League, where we will give everything possible to build on our recent positive form in the competition. Your support at the London Stadium when things didn’t go our way meant so much. Thank you for always backing us, and we will do our best to reward your loyalty which we never take for granted."
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Don't worry, Eddie, we'll question the players' commitment for you
We can fault the players' commitment and work ethic on Sunday. We have no problem doing that.
However, as Eddie Howe said, we have often used results like this as a catalyst to kick on, and a win tonight would go a long way to proving that.
A win on Sunday down at Brentford would go a whole lot further, mind, but one step at a time.