Newcastle United’s January Relegation Rundown
We take a look at the current relegation battle and how Newcastle United factors into it.
I’m sorry. I truly held out as long as I could, but we have to be honest with ourselves. Newcastle United will very much be involved in this year’s Premier League relegation battle. They are struggling for consistent points and they currently sit 15th on the table. To help understand the battle for Premier League safety for Newcastle United, we will have a monthly look at the bottom of the barrel in England’s top flight league.
The Current Bottom Three
20. Huddersfield Town (loss vs. NUFC on 12/15)
10 points, -23 goal differential
The Terriers seem like a lock to go down at this point in the season. They have a league-low in wins (2) and goals (12).
19. Fulham (draw vs. NUFC on 12/22)
(14 points, -25 goal differential)
They spent a lot of money this summer to avoid being in the relegation battle, only to see themselves here in the bottom three. Their defense has been woeful, allowing the most goals in the Premier League (43).
18. Burnley (loss vs. NUFC on 11/26)
(15 points, -22 goal differential)
Another side with a poor defensive record. Burnley manager Sean Dyche dropped former England international goalkeeper Joe Hart in favor of Tom Heaton for the West Ham match and the 32-year-old recorded a clean sheet. The Clarets will hope the 2-0 win sparks a good run of form.
Last year’s bottom three on this date
18. West Ham
18 points, SURVIVED
19. West Bromwich Albion
16 points, RELEGATED
20. Swansea City
16 points, RELEGATED
The Other Contenders
17. Southampton (draw vs. NUFC on 10/27)
(15 points, -17 goal differential)
The Saints surprised Arsenal 3-2 back in mid-December, one of their two wins last month. Before the win over the Gunners, So’ton had gone 12 league matches without a victory.
16. Cardiff City (draw vs. NUFC on 8/18)
(18 points, -19 goal differential)
After earning promotion last season, the Bluebirds were expected to occupy the 20th position for most of the season and quietly go back down to the Championship. But, Cardiff City has definitely fared better than many expected. They closed out last month with an upset 1-0 win over Leicester City.
15. NEWCASTLE UNITED
(18 points, -12 goal differential)
A really solid November was followed by a really disappointing December. A brutal schedule over December and January won’t do the Magpies any favors as they try to navigate away from the danger zone.
14. Crystal Palace (draw vs. NUFC on 9/22)
(19 points, -9 goal differential)
Palace is right on the fringe of being in this discussion. They scored a huge win over Manchester City in December and finished the month with ten points from their seven matches. A solid winning streak would get them to an entirely comfortable spot away from the bottom of the table chaos.
Related Story. Our 2019 Newcastle United predictions. light
This month’s head-to-head matchups
(Between any of the clubs listed above)
1/2
Huddersfield Town vs. Burnley
1/12
Burnley vs. Fulham
Cardiff City vs. Huddersfield Town
1/19
NEWCASTLE UNITED vs. Cardiff City
1/30
Southampton vs. Crystal Palace