Bournemouth versus Newcastle United is not a fixture that one is used to seeing on their calendar, with both clubs having a vastly contrasting history.
However, as far as Toon fans are concerned, the only history that is relevant is what has happened to their club in the past year and their shocking record away from home. The match at Bournemouth will be two days away from the one year anniversary of the 2-0 win at West Brom. In the 363 days that have passed, Newcastle have won one first team match away from home and that was against Hull City (who went on to be relegated), over nine months ago.
The stats of the away record in this period that have continued into this season, are truly horrific from a Newcastle perspective:
- Played 20
- Won 1, drawn 3, lost 16
- Goals for: 9
- Goals against: 46
- Failed to score in 13 of these 20 matches.
- In the last 11 of these away games, Newcastle have failed to score in nine and have only scored twice.
Saturday’s opponents Bournemouth appear to be struggling to come to terms with the demands of the Premier League, but just as Newcastle will see this as an opportunity to gain a much needed three points, as will the Cherries in what can easily be described as a ‘relegation six pointer,’ even this early in the season. When looking at the home form of Eddie Howe’s men, in-between the opening day of the season when they lost to Aston Villa and the recent 5-1 humbling by Tottenham, Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0 and earned creditable 1-1 draw with Leicester and Watford.
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What looms to be the most fascinating battle of the match is Newcastle’s attack against Bournemouth’s defense – both of which have struggled lately. In the Magpies’ last two matches, they have outplayed Stoke and Sunderland, only to have a return of no goals, while Bournemouth have conceded 12 times in their last three outings. With the Geordies struggling to score and the Cherries struggling to defend, something has to give and it may boil down to Newcastle’s ability to get that first goal. Then possibly there may be the flow-on effect like there was against Norwich.
Taking into account the table positions of both sides and the Magpies’ horrendous away record, there is plenty at stake here for Steve McClaren’s side, with the chance to climb out of the bottom three and get a rare away win which will give the squad the self belief that they can win on the road – something which has possibly held them back in the early parts of this campaign. Whichever way one looks at it, it definitely looms as a potentially season defining match for Newcastle.
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