Newcastle United’s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday will not help rumors that Eddie Howe could lose his job.
Last month, the Daily Mail reported that the England tactician’s long-term future was in doubt and there was no guarantee he would be in the dugout next season.
The Magpies have lost their third consecutive match in all competitions and their fourth loss in their last six Premier League games, leaving them 14th in the top flight.
Howe led Newcastle to fifth place and the Champions League in 2024/25, but they are currently 10 points adrift of fifth place with six games remaining.
But the former Bournemouth manager may find his job at Selhurst Park tough, with the home side’s winning penalty being debatable to say the least.
Why Sven Botman isn’t to blame for Newcastle’s loss to Crystal Palace
Sven Botman was given a ‘foul’ in stoppage time for a long throw on Palace midfielder Jefferson Lerma, but contact was minimal.
If that were the norm for penalty contact when defending set pieces, you could argue that some penalties would be awarded in every Premier League match.
Botman, who won eight of his 13 aerial duels and had two blocks in the game, may have gotten away with leaving Lerma alone, but it was no different from the set-piece situations we see every week across the league.
The Dutch international did a lot of good work outside of penalties, making four interceptions and recovering the ball five times, but he shouldn’t bear the brunt of the blame for the defeat as the penalty call was incredibly harsh.
He was far from the worst on the pitch in the Magpies defeat in London and one of his team-mates should not have started again this season.
Worse than Botman: Newcastle’s biggest underperformance against Crystal Palace
One of Newcastle’s attacking players underperformed even more than Botman in the loss to Palace, failing to give Howe’s side the lead in the final third.
Jacob Murphy started on the right wing after coming off the bench against Sunderland and Barcelona before the international break.
Unfortunately, the former Norwich City forward failed to impress on the wing and left the field in the 89th minute with 0 shots on target, 0 goals, 0 ‘big chances’ created and 0 assists.
The 31-year-old winger lost the ball 25 times in 54 touches, while missing all five of his attempted crosses, an incredibly wasteful performance for the Magpies.
Murphy failed to provide quality possession, with 25 losses of possession resulting in no “big chances”, struggled out of position and lost five of his seven ground duels. As such, it was even worse than Botman, who was consistent outside of penalty incidents.
The experienced forward starred for Newcastle and Howe last season, scoring a total of 20 goals and assists in the Premier League, but has not been the same player since Alexander Isak left to sign for Liverpool for £125 million.
PL’s Murphy | 24/25 | 25/26 |
|---|---|---|
Appearance | 35 | 27 |
xG | 5.72 | 3.05 |
the goal | 8 | 3 |
A big opportunity has arisen | 16 | 9 |
Shah | 6.15 | 2.50 |
assist | 12 | 1 |
Murphy has only contributed four goals in 27 Premier League appearances for the Magpies this season, 16 fewer than in 2024/25.
Unfortunately, he continues to fail to achieve the heights he achieved with the club last season, and his current performances suggest Howe should not start him in the Premier League.
With the likes of Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga starting on the bench against Palace, Murphy is unlikely to start a Premier League game for Newcastle this season unless he delivers a masterclass off the bench to earn himself a new starting spot.
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