Newcastle United are way off the pace in the race for Champions League qualification, but Aston Villa don’t seem to be struggling at all despite being under similar pressure.
Last season, Newcastle pipped Villa to a top five spot and thus secured Champions League football for the 2025/26 campaign at their expense.
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Since then, however, there’s been a growing gap between the two teams. Indeed, after Aston Villa’s win over Man United on Sunday, Unai Emery’s side are now eight places and a whopping 13 points ahead of Eddie Howe and co.
Whether it’s down to Howe or the players, there is a serious mentality issue at Newcastle United. But is that the only difference between the Magpies and Aston Villa?
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European football isn’t stopping Aston Villa
Late last month, after another round of Champions League matches, Eddie Howe said Newcastle were ‘stretched’ having to compete on various fronts this season.
In fairness, it is a common problem for plenty of teams that play midweek football across Europe before returning to domestic duty at the weekend.
But, that problem is not affecting Villa. In fact, they’re thriving this season despite playing in the Europa League. Their win over Man U on Sunday made it ten in a row for Emery’s side; a run stretching back to 1 November.
In contrast, Newcastle’s best run this season was a three-game winning streak in October. It would be more than fair to describe the Magpies as ‘inconsistent’ this term, and it’s an issue that’s left them in the bottom half of the league table for most of the campaign.
The more worrying thing is Villa are exceeding all expectations despite only spending around £26m this summer. Newcastle spent around £243m, for context.
We already knew Newcastle’s recruitment team got it wrong this summer, but the massive difference between those two figures is very alarming indeed.
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Newcastle United injuries are a fair caveat
The one thing we can say in Howe’s favour is that the Newcastle injury crisis has taken its toll, as it would on any team.
Newcastle’s backline has been depleted, with the likes of Sven Botman, Tino Livramento, and Dan Burn all out long-term.
Hopefully, the January transfer window will bring reinforcements to solve that. It’s thought PIF will spend £100m next month on three new signings.
Still, as we said above, it’s not about throwing money at a problem. The Aston Villa project has been running just as long as Howe’s at Newcastle and yet it is showing far more consistency, cohesion, and purpose.
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