Saturday’s Premier League action climaxes with a head-to-head between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St James’ Park. The Magpies’ confidence has been restored by virtue of back-to-back wins against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, while the Villains are still searching for their first win since Gameweek 1.
Despite carding a pair of impressive wins over the last four Gameweeks, Newcastle ranked in the bottom three for attempts (30), shots inside the box (23), shots on target (seven) and big chances (three). Ultimately, they profited from the third-best shot-conversion rate (16.7%) during that period, but it will be a concern for Steve McClaren that only West Bromwich Albion (17) fashioned fewer key passes (21) than his side.
No team surrendered more goals (10) and shots inside the box (43) than Villa over the last four Gameweeks, while they also charted joint-third for big chances conceded (11). Moreover, the West Midlands outfit rank joint-third for goals conceded in road fixtures (18) behind Newcastle (19) and Sunderland (21). They fared no better from an offensive standpoint, chalking up just three goals and managing the same volume of shots inside the box (23) as the Magpies.
