Newcastle United 'missed opportunity' for new signing as Premier League issue 29-word West Ham statement

It was Newcastle’s first Monday night defeat at St James’ Park in the Premier League since 2008 as Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka scored in either half to secure three points for The Hammers. It stopped a run of three straight wins for The Magpies ahead of the game.

Here are five talking points from the match...

Eddie Howe forced into one change for Newcastle United as key duo return

Head coach Eddie Howe made one change from the side that beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 before the international break with summer signing Lloyd Kelly making his first Premier League start since the 3-1 defeat at Fulham back in September in place of the suspended Dan Burn.

On the bench, Newcastle were boosted by the returns of Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson from injury. It was Trippier’s first match in seven weeks after picking up a hamstring issue against Everton while Wilson made the matchday squad for the first time since May having picked up a back injury in pre-season.

Both Trippier and Wilson got on the pitch in the second half as Newcastle trailed 2-0 but couldn’t help the hosts get back into the game.

A missed opportunity for Lloyd Kelly

It was a night of missed opportunities for Newcastle as they missed the chance to move up to sixth in the Premier League table with a win, instead dropping to 10th. Chances were squandered on the pitch while the incoming Kelly couldn’t make the most of his rare Premier League start in Burn’s absence.

The 26-year-old let Soucek go for West Ham’s opener after 10 minutes, the first goal Newcastle had conceded from a corner this season. Kelly also couldn’t stop Wan-Bissaka from doubling the visitors’ lead shortly after half-time.

On the whole, it was a nervous, unconvincing outing for the former AFC Bournemouth defender, who will almost certainly drop back to the bench when Burn returns from suspension at Crystal Palace on Saturday (3pm kick-off).

“[Dan Burn] was a big miss,” Howe admitted. “You see the first goal and I think Dan’s presence helps us in those situations for sure.

“His leadership qualities on the pitch can’t be underestimated, he’s an organiser and a really good communicator with his backline and midfield. Certainly, my initial assessment is that we missed him.”

VAR decisions go against Newcastle United as Premier League explains major call

Newcastle made a positive start to the match prior to going behind and found the net inside the opening minutes with Alexander Isak chipping the ball over Lukasz Fabianski after being slipped through on goal by Lewis Hall. It was a tidy finish and good move from The Magpies but the offside flag was quickly up against the striker.

VAR replays suggested it was a tight call but ultimately sided with the on-field decision.

Later in the game, VAR got involved once again to check another key decision. Substitute Wilson was grappled over inside the penalty area by West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos but referee Craig Pawson waved away the home side’s appeals.

“For Callum's [non]-penalty I thought it was a tight call and I'd need to see it again,” Howe admitted. “The offside goal looked tight, I thought it would be a longer review and hopefully drop in our favour.”

Explaining the decision not to award Newcastle a penalty, the Premier League Match Centre stated: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Mavropanos on Wilson was checked and confirmed by VAR, deeming that the contact was not sufficient for a penalty.”

Double injury blow for Newcastle United

To rub salt into the wounds of defeat, Newcastle now risk being without midfielders Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock due to injury. Willock was forced off with a leg injury at half-time while Guimaraes eventually succumbed to a glute problem in the closing stages of the match.

The Brazilian posted on social media after the match that he was hopeful it wasn’t serious but it will be enough to deem him a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace. Guimaraes has captained Newcastle in every Premier League game so far this season but is seemingly yet to win a coin toss at St James’ Park with the hosts having to kick ‘up the hill’ towards the Leazes Stand in the second half of matches as opposed to the often preferred Gallowgate End.

Newcastle have never won a match Guimaraes hasn’t been involved in since he signed for the club in January 2022. The 27-year-old boasts an impressive availability record for The Magpies having only missed seven Premier League matches since arriving on Tyneside.

Can Newcastle afford to have him unavailable for the trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday?

Newcastle United international break issues persist - a reason to be positive?

Monday night’s defeat had many similarities to Newcastle’s previous defeat at St James’ Park which came immediately after the October international break. Against both Brighton and West Ham, Newcastle conceded against the run of play and ultimately failed to break their opponents down despite being in control of the game for long periods.

Newcastle had two weeks to prepare for the game on paper but, in realit,y their squad was decimated by the international break with starting players such as Anthony Gordon, Guimaraes, Isak, Hall and Livramento all away with their respective countries.

As a result, they had limited training time before the game, much like they did before Brighton and the end result was the same. It’s just the reality of having a squad full of established internationals, as most top clubs do.

“There's always that concern because you lose contact time with the players who go through totally different experiences then they come back together as a group,” Howe said. “Historically we've been very good in that respect, why we should suddenly find it difficult, I don't know - that's one of the mysteries of football and we need to go away and think about that.

“It's a similar feeling [to Brighton] where I thought we played well in that game but didn't get the result, here I thought we played well in parts but we're not scoring enough for the chances we've created so that's a disappointment and something that we have to fix.”

Fortunately, Newcastle now have a busy run of fixtures uninterrupted by an international break to try and find a rhythm and gain some momentum heading into 2025.