The worrying stats behind Newcastle United’s Brighton draw: Possession, shots on target & more

Newcastle United have never started a season worse than this - however, a battling point at Brighton and Hove Albion can’t be overlooked.

The result sees United climb off the bottom of the Premier League table, but continue their grim record-breaking run of 11 games without a win in the top flight.

Here we take a look at the statistics behind the Amex Stadium draw.

POSSESSION: Brighton 66% Newcastle United 34%

Despite a better second 45, where United saw much more of the ball, they still conceded the lion’s share of possession to the hosts. Two thirds of it, in fact.

It was only into the later stages of the game that the Magpies began to get a real foothold in midfield.

SHOTS: Brighton 14 Newcastle United 6

The hosts dominated the shot count on the day, and many of these came in the first hour of the game. United, however, rarely tested the Brighton goalkeepers - Robert Sanchez and latterly Lewis Dunk.

SHOTS ON TARGET: Brighton 5 Newcastle United 2

Just Matt Ritchie, a meek effort, and Isaac Hayden’s goal counted as shots on target for the Magpies. The United shot count in the last three Premier League games under Graeme Jones has been particularly low.

CORNERS: Brighton 2 Newcastle United 5

A metric United actually won, although it counted for little with delivery into the box - bar the Hayden goal - poor again.

FOULS: Brighton 16 Newcastle United 10

This home foul count includes the Sanchez nibble at Callum Wilson late on, a tackle which saw him red-carded and Dunk thrown into action between the sticks. Ciaran Clark’s inexplicable tackle in his own area also counted against United on this statistic.