Newcastle rallying for next 'final' after Villa 'reality check'

Jason Tindall, standing in for hospitalised head coach Eddie Howe, had outlined the magnitude of the half-dozen games ahead of Newcastle prior to the trip to Villa Park.

Victory in the EFL Cup final against Liverpool in March might have prepared the Magpies for matches of this magnitude, but their latest "final" saw Villa deserving 4-1 winners.

"We've got five cup finals now remaining," Tindall told Sky Sports afterwards, with the next of those at home to Ipswich Town on Saturday, by which time Newcastle may have fallen to sixth.

"We need to make sure we prepare, refresh, and we go and deliver the level of performances we've seen time and time again, starting with Ipswich at St James' Park."

Back at home this weekend pic.twitter.com/oNvPYBirYk

— Newcastle United (@NUFC) April 23, 2025

Never mind cup finals or European football, Ipswich have far more modest ambitions. They must win at Newcastle to have any chance of avoiding relegation this weekend.

But last week's result should ensure there is no danger of complacency from Newcastle, who will also have enjoyed some time to recover after a run of three matches in seven days.

Kieran Trippier added: "We can't use [tiredness] as an excuse. The manager picks the XI, we've been unchanged, and that's it. We focus on the next game, and that's against Ipswich.

"We want to qualify for the Champions League. [Villa] was a setback, but we've got a full week to recover and analyse where we went wrong.

"You come into games like [last week] against teams like [Villa] and it's a bit of a reality check maybe."

Meanwhile, even victory for Ipswich will not be enough to delay their misery if West Ham earn just a point against Brighton.

This match will make for painful viewing for left-back Leif Davis, too, the boyhood Newcastle fan missing the trip to Tyneside after a red card in last week's 4-0 defeat to Arsenal.

After having a league-leading 20 different scorers last season, only nine Newcastle players have found the net this term. But that matters little while they have players in the form of 21-goal Isak.

He has a fine scoring record against the league's leading sides yet has also made hay against opponents further down the league.

Isak hit a hat-trick in the reverse fixture as Newcastle won 4-0 at Portman Road, those goals boosting his tally against promoted sides to 15 in 14 Premier League matches.

In the absence of Davis, Greaves may be moved out to left-back, a position he has played before but not his natural role.

He will have to hit the ground running up against Jacob Murphy, one of the form wingers in the division.

Murphy, who assisted one of Isak's three goals against Ipswich earlier in the campaign, has three goals and three assists in his past five Premier League appearances.

Newcastle have not actually completed a league double over Ipswich since 1973-74, but they have a strong record against the Tractor Boys at St James' Park. Ipswich are winless in 11 on Tyneside.

The Magpies' recent results at home should be of particular concern to Ipswich, too, given they scored four against Manchester United and then five against Crystal Palace.

Should Newcastle net four or more against Ipswich for the second time this season, they will have done so in three consecutive home Premier League matches for only the second time after a sequence across August and September 1994.

Newcastle do have frailties, though, conceding from the first shot they have faced in 10 Premier League matches this term, the second-most since records began in 2006-07. They could match Aston Villa's unwanted 2022-23 benchmark of 11 on Saturday.

That trend might offer some encouragement to Ipswich, who have not tallied shots in great numbers. In fact, they have attempted fewer than five shots in five different league matches this season, including only four in the Arsenal loss.

But even if Ipswich do score early, their fans will know better than to take that lead for granted. Ipswich have dropped a league-high 27 points from winning positions. Only Manchester City (20) and Liverpool (19) have gained more points from losing positions than Newcastle's 18.

Newcastle United – 73.7%

Draw – 15.5%