Where do Newcastle rank among the Premier League’s best defences?
Newcastle are on course for one of the best defensive seasons in Premier League history.
The Magpies are third in the league having conceded only 11 goals in their first 19 matches of the campaign – a record bettered by just seven teams since 1992-93.
Eddie Howe’s side have kept 11 clean sheets so far, including five in a row after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Fulham.
Manchester City and Liverpool remain the only two teams to have scored more than once in a league game against Newcastle, with City having battled back to a 3-3 draw at St James’ Park in August and Liverpool having scored in the last minute in a 2-1 win at Anfield a week later.
Here, Football Mad takes a closer look at Newcastle’s miserly back line.
Tried and tested
Eddie Howe has largely stuck with the same goalkeeper and back four in the Premier League this season.
Summer signing Nick Pope has been ever-present between the posts, while defenders Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn are Howe’s most-used outfield players.
Sven Botman has been the other preferred member of Newcastle’s defence. The Dutchman has started 16 out of 19 games in the league since arriving from Lille in June.
Elite company
- Chelsea (2008-09) – 7
- Liverpool (2018-19) – 7
- Chelsea (2004-05) – 8
- Chelsea (2005-06) – 9
- Man Utd (2007-08) – 9
- Man Utd (2006-07) – 10
- Man Utd (2008-09) – 10
- Arsenal (1993-94) – 11
- Arsenal (1998-99) – 11
- Liverpool (2005-06) – 11
- Newcastle (2022-23) – 11
Newcastle are just the 11th team in Premier League history to concede 11 goals or fewer after 19 matches.
None of the previous 10 finished lower than third, with five winning the title – in successive seasons from 2004-05 to 2008-09.
Liverpool in 2018-19 and Chelsea in 2008-09 have the best records at the halfway stage, with both having allowed only seven goals.
Jurgen Klopp’s men went on to concede 22 across the season as a whole, narrowly missing out on the title to Man City, while Chelsea shipped a total of 24 during a turbulent campaign.
Chelsea to beat
Chelsea’s defence of the mid- to late-2000s, with Petr Cech in goal, and John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of a back four, were consistently very difficult to breach.
The Blues conceded just 15 goals across the entirety of Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge – 2004-05 – and restricted their opponents to a mere 22 in the following campaign.
The former effort remains a record, ahead of Arsenal in 1998-99.
The Gunners famous back line of Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn, backed by goalkeeper David Seaman, allowed only 17 goals against them all season but lost out on the title to Manchester United.