It’s been a disappointing start to the new Premier League season for Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe’s men started the campaign in emphatic style with a 5-1 win against Aston Villa at St James’ Park - but things haven’t quite continued as many would hoped.
A narrow 1-0 defeat at last season’s triple winners Manchester City wasn’t exactly viewed as a bad result, yet losses to Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion have. And understandably so.
Having led 1-0 against the Reds and played against 0 men for an hour following Virgil Van Dijk’s red card, the Magpies somehow surrendered their advantage in the closing stages after substitute Darwin Nunez’s late brace.
A reaction was expected at Brighton but the South Coast club completely outplayed their visitors with Evan Ferguson grabbing the headlines for his hat-trick.
It’s the first time since April 2022 Newcastle have suffered three consecutive league defeats, which leaves them 14th in the table heading into the two-week international break.
Here, our writer Jordan Cronin dishes out his Newcastle United player ratings from the 2023-24 season so far:
1. Nick Pope - 6
A shaky start to the campaign for Pope. He didn’t look totally comfortable against Liverpool before his mistake at Brighton cost Newcastle.
2. Kieran Trippier - 7
Trippier hasn’t impacted the game in the final third as much as he would have liked but his one-v-one defending against Jack Grealish and Kaoru Mitoma has been impressive.
3. Fabian Schar - 6
The Swiss is a class act in defence given how cool and calm he is in possession but his performance at Brighton last time out was a real disappointment. Photo: (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
4. Sven Botman - 7
Every one saw how badly Newcastle missed Botman on the South Coast. And seeing how he dealt with Erling Haaland at the Etihad Stadium proved how good the Dutchman really is.