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Newcastle United's Miguel Almiron (left) celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game with team-mate Callum Wilson during the Premier League match at St. James' Park, Newcastle. Picture date: Saturday October 29, 2022.

11 stunning stats from Newcastle’s superb 4-0 victory over Aston Villa

Planet Football β€’

Newcastle United produced a statement performance with a 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa that suggested they might just be genuine top-four contenders.

Eddie Howe’s Magpies are the form team in the division, having now taken 16 points from 18 on offer in October. No side in the top flight has done better since the last international break.

They remain fourth in the table after securing a third successive victory, having built on last weekend’s impressive 2-1 victory away to Tottenham.

They demonstrated grit and determination on that occasion, but showed their stylish side at St. James’ Park as they put Villa to the sword.

The visitors would have been in a buoyant mood as they arrived on Tyneside, having come into the match off the back of a 4-0 win at home to Brentford following the sacking of Steven Gerrard. New manager Unai Emery was not yet in charge, with caretaker boss Aaron Danks remaining in the dugout.

The first half was competitive and bitty after a series of injury stoppages, but Newcastle went into the break ahead after Callum Wilson converted a spot-kick, given for a handball by Ashley Young.

In the second half, Howe’s side took the game beyond Villa, with further goals from Wilson, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron. They created many more chances to win by a wider margin, too, and were twice denied by the woodwork.

“The lads really competed well. It was a bitty first half, very stop-start. Thankfully in the second half we were outstanding. That is up there with one of the best performances of the season,” Howe told Sky Sports.

“I’m really pleased for Callum [Wilson]. Penalties are never easy but he put it away well. He was at the heart of a lot of our good football.

“It was an outstanding finish by Miguel [Almiron]. We hope the Aston Villa keeper is OK. It didn’t help the game. Thankfully in the second half we were able to express ourselves better.

“Tonight I hope fans all enjoy themselves. We’re already looking forward to next week.”

Here are 11 impressive stats from a particularly impressive performance by Newcastle.

– Newcastle were utterly dominant. They registered 59.8% possession, 20 shots to Aston Villa’s three and seven on target to the visitors’ zero. Nick Pope didn’t make a single save.

– Almiron has now scored six goals in six games in the month of October. That’s two more Premier League goals than Jack Grealish has scored in his entire Manchester City career to date. Playing like Almiron.

– Newcastle now account for the two highest xG (expected goals) tallies in the Premier League this season. The other was against Fulham. Their four goals came from 3.5xG (via @OptaAnalyst) The scoreline didn’t flatter them.

– As well as creating a number of chances and a high rate of xG, Newcastle restricted Villa to just 0.4xG.

– Wilson had a very lively afternoon. He scored a penalty and a header, assisted for Almiron and was denied a hat-trick by the woodwork. The striker registered five shots (three on target).

– Wilson has maintained his 100% penalty-scoring record with eight from eight for Newcastle. A useful skill for England, and Gareth Southgate was watching. Qatar calling?

– Bruno Guimaraes had the most touches of any player on the pitch (93) – 31 more than any opposition player and completed the most passes (61) – 21 more than any Villa player. Not bad considering he came off with 10 minutes still to play.

– Between them, Dan Burn and Sven Botman won seven aerial challenges. That’s only one fewer than Villa managed collectively.

– Newcastle have maintained their defensive record – the best in the Premier League – with another clean sheet. They’ve conceded the fewest goals (10) and Nick Pope is joint-top for clean sheets alongside Man City’s Ederson (six).

– After 13 games this season, Newcastle have 24 points (six wins, six draws, one defeat) with a +14 goal difference (24 scored, 10 conceded). In contrast, last season after the same number of games, Newcastle were bottom of the Premier League with six points (no wins, six draws, seven defeats) and a -14 goal difference (15 scored, 29 conceded).

– For all the considerable investment from the new owners, six of Newcastle’s starting XI in this match were inherited from Howe’s predecessor Steve Bruce, including the much-improved front three (Joelinton, Wilson, Almiron), all of whom got on the scoresheet.


READ:Β The Premier League net spend table since Newcastle’s takeover