Alan Shearer names one thing that ‘has to change’ after Newcastle United lose to Brighton

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Alan Shearer was left furious about one element of Newcastle United’s performance in their 1-0 defeat to Brighton.

Newcastle United missed a golden opportunity to beat Brighton and apply pressure on the Premier League’s top four on Saturday afternoon.

Danny Welbeck scored the only goal of the game at St James’ Park to inflict Newcastle’s second defeat of the season.

The Magpies have now slumped down to eighth in the Premier League table and have gone four league games without a win.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
8	NewcastleNewcastle	8	3	3	2	8	8	0	12

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Alan Shearer reacts to Newcastle United defeat

Not for the first time this season, Newcastle looked sharp but struggled to put the ball in the back of the net.

It has been a recurring problem for Eddie Howe‘s side and it proved costly on Saturday afternoon.

Newcastle have only scored eight goals in their eight Premier League matches this season – only five top-flight teams have scored fewer.

Club legend Alan Shearer criticised Newcastle’s finishing on social media shortly after the full-time whistle where he slammed his former side for being “very very poor in front of goal”.

Shearer continued his criticism on BBC Match of the Day, where he insisted that Newcastle’s finishing “has to change”.

“I think there are a few things missing from Newcastle’s performance today and all season, but the biggest thing is in front of goal,” Shearer said.

“They were so poor in front of goal today and in several other games. That has to change.”

Newcastle United’s lack of goals this season

For the first time under Howe, Newcastle are seriously struggling for goals.

Only Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool scored more than Newcastle in 2023/24 despite the injury crisis that derailed the season.

Alexander Isak struggled against Brighton and, in general, he is finding it difficult to rediscover the form that saw him score 25 goals across all competitions last season.

But the rest of the team are also responsible for chipping in with goals and it is difficult to single out one player who has been clinical in front of goal this season.

Newcastle now face a very difficult run of fixtures with Chelsea and Arsenal up next. If the Magpies plan on getting anything from those games they will need to improve.