Newcastle United's topsy-turvy campaign continued away at Brentford on Sunday afternoon.
Fresh off collecting another Champions League victory versus Athletic Club at St James' Park in mid-week, the hope would have been that Eddie Howe's Magpies would travel to the Bees and start to turn around their stuttering domestic campaign.
Unfortunately for the travelling masses at the Gtech Community Stadium, Newcastle would, instead, crash to their fifth defeat of the Premier League season already, as an Igor Thiago-inspired comeback clinched a 3-1 win for Keith Andrews' hosts.
igor-thiago-brentford
Eddie Howe has nowhere to hide after "another awful away day" as journalist Craig Hope brutally put it, with Dan Burn's sending off late on starting the demise, which saw Brentford sneak home two quickfire efforts inside the final 12 minutes.
The 6-foot-7 warrior wasn't on his own, though, in putting in another disastrous defensive display, as one of his partners on the day in Sven Botman, was also exposed as a weak link throughout the 3-1 loss.
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Botman's poor performance in numbers
This is the second Sunday in a row where Newcastle have travelled to London and surrendered a one-goal lead, with West Ham United also getting the better of them by the exact same scoreline to start November.
In both defeats, the Dutchman has looked shaky and susceptible, with Botman even managing to score an own goal against the Hammers.
While he was spared his blushes in this regard against the Bees, he was still a liability in the centre-back positions throughout, as Thiago's late 95th-minute game-clinching strike saw the below-par number 4 fail to keep a close eye on the action.
Away from being run ragged by the 24-year-old hotshot, Botman also trudged off at the end with only two of his six duels being won, alongside failing to win a single tackle to try and stop a Brentford side who only grew in confidence, the more the game went on.
Howe might well be tempted to throw Fabian Schar back into his starting XI if Botman keeps up these shoddy performances, with the 25-year-old only managing to collect a slim two clean sheets in league action this season when featuring for the up-and-down Magpies.
Sven-Botman
With Burn now suspended for Newcastle's next league tie after the international break against Manchester City, and Nick Pope taken off towards the latter stages of the 3-1 loss, it could be a new-look defence that takes to the field against the revitalised Citizens, as another underperformer at the back fears Howe's selection wrath.
Newcastle star was just as bad as Botman
Howe is now being stung for being too loyal towards long-standing St James' Park servants, with Burn very visibly not at the required level anymore to be a starting left-back.
Kieran Trippier also struggled throughout on the right flank against Andrews' hosts, with the return of Tino Livramento from injury - who Howe stated could be back for the clash against Pep Guardiola's men - only troubling the 35-year-old's starting position going forward even more.
Trippier's performance in numbers
Stat
Minutes played
Goals scored
Assists
Touches
Accurate passes
Accurate long balls
Accurate crosses
Possession lost
Dribbled past
Total duels won
Stats by Sofascore
Often, the ex-Atletico Madrid defender's saving grace is his ability to conjure up an opening from nowhere, with an inch-perfect free-kick delivery getting the ball rolling in the Champions League last Wednesday night, as Burn then headed home the right-back's inviting delivery.
Against Brentford, though, this split-second creativity was nowhere to be found, with Trippier failing to register a single accurate cross, which led to Nick Woltemade cutting an isolated figure up top, once more.
Kieran-Trippier
Trippier also gave up possession a high 20 times, while also looking rusty when Brentford attacked with pace and energy - much like Botman - with only four of his 11 duels being successfully won.
Livramento's return from injury has possibly come at the perfect time, so Howe doesn't have to persist with selecting his declining captain, with Burn also fearful he will be removed from the team for good, for Lewis Hall to take over left-back duties.
Howe stated at the full-time whistle that there are "no excuses" after the Toon succumbed to their fifth Premier League defeat of the season to date, with Newcastle needing to return after the international break refreshed and ready to break out of their inconsistent form, with both Trippier and Botman dropping down to the substitutes bench.