Newcastle United suffered their annual defeat at the Amex on Saturday as Brighton and Hove Albion edged them 2-1.
Here are our Scout Notes from the south coast.
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WOLTEMADE + WELBECK IN FORM
With question marks over numerous forwards in FPL at present (Messrs Pedro, Gyokeres, Isak, Watkins etc), two strikers at opposite ends of their careers have been among the goals in the last month.
Veteran Danny Welbeck (£6.3m) made it four goals in three appearances with a well-taken brace on Saturday, while Nick Woltemade‘s (£7.3m) excellent start to life at Newcastle continued at the Amex.
The German striker has scored in four of his five Premier League starts since his move (five in six in all competitions), producing a superb flicked finish to briefly level the game at 1-1.
⚽️ WOLTEMADE WITH YET ANOTHER GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE!! H'S ON FIRE!!! 🔥 THE BACKHEEL!!!! pic.twitter.com/A83nIUFlsk
— VAR Center (@CenterVAR) October 18, 2025
He’s the clear focal point of this Newcastle attack at present, and the only one really in tip-top form. He perhaps should have scored with a header from a free-kick in the first half, while he couldn’t make a good connection with two quickfire chances in the 88th minute.
No one had more than his four shots at the Amex, a tally he shared with Bruno Guimaraes (£6.5m).
What about Welbeck, though? You’re never quite sure of his minutes, with Georginio Rutter (£5.7m) an alternative up top. The two young big-money Greek forwards, Stefanos Tzimas (£5.3m) and Charalampos Kostoulas (£4.8m), are inching closer to first-team contention, too, with both getting on the field on Saturday. It’s Welbeck’s spot for now, of course, especially with Rutter needed in the ’10’ at present.
Underlying stats-wise, Welbeck is definitely making the most of his chances. He’s scored with each of his last four shots (!) and he’s not even reached double figures for goal attempts (nine) in 2025/26. It does suggest ‘unsustainable purple patch’ more than anything else.
GAME OF TWO HALVES
Two inconsistent sides served up a pretty inconsistent game. Bar an early Bruno chance, Brighton were by far the better team in the first half, outshooting their visitors 11-3 after 52 minutes.
For the last 40+ minutes, though, it was 13-2 in Newcastle’s favour.
The only two Albion efforts in this time resulted in the winner: a blocked Mats Wieffer (£4.9m) attempt and Welbeck gobbling up the rebound.
Woltemade aside, goalscoring is a bit of a concern for Newcastle at present. Only three clubs have scored fewer goals than the Magpies (seven) in 2025/26.
Anthony Elanga (£6.8m) has struggled domestically since his move and was hooked at the interval, while Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) hasn’t delivered a single FPL return all season. He was actually Newcastle’s brightest spark in the first half on Saturday but ultimately, his xGI since returning from a ban is a poor 0.44. This was another match in which he failed to make it to the 70-minute mark.
“That is a concern for us. We can’t rely on one individual. We have always historically been a team that scores a lot of goals from different areas.”
“We have never been reliant on any one player. Nick has done really well and we are delighted with him, but we want more from other areas of the team.” – Eddie Howe on goalscoring
KADIOGLU ‘OOP’ AS VAN HECKE + WIEFFER DELIVER DEFCON AGAIN
Brighton are, still, without a clean sheet this season.
This was actually one of their better defensive performances, with Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m) not forced to make a save until the 74th minute. Only Woltemade’s inspired flick beat him.
Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.4m) was a colossus at the back and, interestingly, now has defensive contribution (DefCon) points in four of his last five starts:
The calibre of opposition has something to do with it but the most defensive contributions he made in any match last season was 11, and he’s thrice beaten that tally already in this campaign.
Wieffer, a DefCon magnet from right-back last season, has carried on where he left off in 2024/25, banking DefCon points in three of his four starts this time. It’d likely have been four from four were it not for an early Gameweek 7 substitution.
In other Brighton defender news, Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) ended up ‘out of position’ on the left wing for much of this match. With Diego Gomez (£4.9m) injured in the first half and Kaoru Mitoma (£6.3m) absent again, Maxim De Cuyper (£4.4m) was brought on at left-back and Kadioglu moved further up the flank.
