Newcastle Toons
Fansided

We hope to see attacking football from Newcastle on Saturday

By Durim Halimi

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: Miguel Almiron of Newcastle United is challenged by Ben Foster of Watford during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Watford FC at St. James Park on August 31, 2019 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: Miguel Almiron of Newcastle United is challenged by Ben Foster of Watford during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Watford FC at St. James Park on August 31, 2019 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Newcastle United should be ready to play attacking football from the opening whistle against Brighton.

We are only approaching the sixth week of Premier League action, but Newcastle United find themselves in a situation where they must win against Brighton on Saturday. As a result of the 0-0 draw between Aston Villa and West Ham on Monday, the Magpies have fallen back into the bottom three (18th). It is way too early to panic, but three points on Saturday ahead of a difficult string of games through October are crucial for Steve Bruce and his players.

Brighton are a decent team that can frustrate Newcastle United at home. In fact, the Magpies have not tasted victory against the Seagulls since they both came up from the Championship together in 2017, which shows just how tricky this matchup can be for the Toon. That being said, the key to success for Newcastle United is attacking football.

Press and Attack

This strategy sounds very simple, but we have not yet seen a true attacking performance from Newcastle United this season. Bruce’s side are the second-worst team in the league when it comes to creating chances (50) and scoring goals (4). Yes, three of our first five opponents have been top six clubs that forced us to chase the ball and live off the counter-attack, but Brighton is not a superior opponent that can dominate a game.

Regardless of the formation selected by Bruce – hopefully a 3-4-3 – the Magpies need to attack Brighton from the opening whistle. There is no reason why the Toon can’t create around 20 chances in front of their home crowd against a mediocre opponent this weekend. Players like Joelinton, Miguel Almiron, Christian Atsu and Jetro Willems have blistering pace and they will be tasked with constantly applying pressure to Brighton’s defenders to force some errors on the back-line.

Newcastle United should also focus their attack on spreading the ball out wide to ensure that Joelinton has several opportunities to try and get on the end of some crosses in the box. With only ten attempts all season, the Magpies’ midfield has to work harder to get Joelinton more touches on the ball higher up the pitch.

Next. NUFC can improve fan engagement on social media. dark

Almiron is also under a lot of pressure to perform this season. The former Atlanta United star is yet to score a goal or complete an assist for Newcastle United since his arrival last January. Brighton’s back-line is among the worst defensive units in the Premier League, so this will be a great opportunity for him to get some good looks at goal, so long as he is getting the ball within 30 yards of goal.

Overall, Newcastle United need to play as if the season will end on Sunday. The fact that newly-promoted sides are all exceeding expectations at this stage in the season does not bode well for the Magpies either, which makes Saturday’s game even more important. Brighton will try to keep things close at St. James’ Park, but Newcastle United need all hands on deck to apply pressure and constantly attack.