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: