Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer admits he didn’t take a lot from their loss to Manchester United.
On Boxing Day, Newcastle United lost 1-0 to Manchester United in what was a disappointing trip to Old Trafford.
While Eddie Howe’s side certainly weren’t dreadful, it was another game in which they failed to score.
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They have since followed that up with a 3-1 win at Burnley, but Newcastle United’s poor away form has been a problem for many months now.
At the Theatre of Dreams, Newcastle had no response to Patrick Dorgu’s first half goal. While they had a lot of the ball, the Magpies rarely looked like scoring.
Still, Shearer didn’t read too much into it, and still believes the Red Devils have a lot of convincing to do.
Alan Shearer criticises Manchester United
The Newcastle United legend was speaking on The Rest is Football.
Shearer, who famously snubbed a move to Old Trafford in 1996 in favour of Newcastle, just doesn’t think that Ruben Amorim’s side are very good.
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He believes it was more of a Newcastle problem that they couldn’t score, rather than anything the Manchester giants were actually doing on the pitch.
That’s not to suggest Shearer was absolutely delighted with what Newcastle did, however.
Previously, Shearer claimed Newcastle lacked the desire to score against Manchester United.
Newcastle United’s xG stats against Manchester United
While it is true that Newcastle saw most of the ball, the xG (expected goals) statistic from the game doesn’t make for particularly pleasant reading.
How much stock one puts into xG is a personal choice, but it’s a metric used to judge the quality of a chance and how likely it is to go in.
According to FotMob data, Newcastle amassed an xG of 1.18 at Old Trafford, while their hosts’ stood at 1.27.
Newcastle did dominate the game but were toothless, although admittedly that was their own failing rather than anything Amorim’s side actually did.
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