Newcastle United – Aston Villa: Villains Twist The Dagger At St. James’ Park (0-2)

Aston Villa beat Newcastle by a two goal margin at St. James’ Park with goals from Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins in each half as they sank the Magpies on home turf. The win meant Villa remained in 3rd place in the Premier League table while Newcastle dropped to 9th.

Tactical analysis and match report by Gaurav Krishnan.

This was a battle of two teams looking to compete with the so called Premier League elite. Both sides have seen a resurgence in recent times with Newcastle under Eddie Howe and Villa under Unai Emery staking a claim for knocking the proverbial Premier League top four, as Sir Alex Ferguson once said, “off their perch”.


This was a game of two sides who have been transformed under their managers and ownership, fighting on all fronts and trying to break the stranglehold of the Premier League heavyweights. However, fortunes have been different for both clubs in the league this season.

Villa find themselves as a surprise package challenging for the title race in 3rd place and just 4 points behind league leaders Arsenal as things stand while Newcastle are languishing just above mid-table in 9th place.

However, the Magpies also find themselves in 7th place in the Champions League group stage qualification table and seem on course for qualifying for the knockouts. Their latest 3-0 home win against Dutch club PSV Eindhoven cemented their place in the qualification spots in Champions League table & it looks likely that they’ll qualify. And perhaps, going into this important Premier League fixture you could argue a case for fatigue. Meanwhile, Villa wrapped up . . .