Seventeen games in, and Newcastle United’s up and down season continues - but this time it was 2-2 draw with Chelsea. It was full of action, but saw the Magpies let a two-goal lead slip.
Without a striker, until they signed two in the final days of the transfer window, the Magpies struggled to score in their opening six of encounters, drawing a blank at Bournemouth, after doing the same at Aston Villa and Leeds United, all three of which finished in 0-0 draws.
They did, somehow, in the chaos, manage to net twice against Liverpool, although a late 3-2 defeat, as we all know, ended any hopes of points on the day. And also did so v Barcelona, if late on.
Then, finally, Newcastle managed to scrape together a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, due in no small part to the goalscoring and line-leading exploits of debutant Nick Woltemade. The lads played out a bore draw at the Vitality Stadium, before actually netting four in the Carabao Cup win over Bradford City.
And finally, the Magpies threw away a one-goal lead v Arsenal at St James' Park, losing 2-1.
A midweek win in Brussels, which saw the Magpies cruise to a 4-0 over Union Saint-Gilloise, was then followed up by a solid 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest. But, almost as if returning to type, the Magpies let a late draw slip as Danny Welbeck netted twice to cancel out a Nick Woltemade equaliser at Brighton.
A run of three wins on the bounce then followed - v Benfica, Fulham and Spurs - before the inevitable crash down to earth with a 3-1 loss at West Ham United.
A midweek win over Athletic Club lifted spirits, but Brentford provided a whole different challenge - and despite it being a must-win game, the Magpies let another lead slip in a 3-1 defeat. The Man City miracle then ensued with Harvey Barnes the magician before a come back down to earth defeat in the south of France at Marseille.
It was then on to Merseyside where Malick Thiaw’s double made it back-to-back Premier League wins, and the Magpies’ first on the road since April. Nick Woltemade and Lewis Miley also got on the scoresheet.
Newcastle made it three unbeaten in the top flight, but it was very much two points dropped at the start of December as Cristian Romero twice levelled at St James’ Park after subs Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon had looked to have won it for United.
And it was four unbeaten as they squeezed past Burnley at SJP - Bruno and Gordon again on the scoresheet, as Yoane Wissa made his long-awaited debut.
A Champions League draw in Leverkusen was then followed by a derby day nightmare. Woltemade’s own goal proved the difference between the sides. It wasn’t redemption, but a Carabao Cup quarter final win over Fulham mended some wounds after the Sunderland loss, but while it was entertaining, a Chelsea draw on home turf was not the result anyone wanted.
With all that in mind, we asked AI tool Grok to predict what will happen in this season’s Premier League - and here’s what it predicted.
1. 2nd: Manchester City
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2. 3rd: Chelsea
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3. 4th: Liverpool
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4. 5th: Aston Villa
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