STAT ATTACK - issue 1

Roberto Di Statteo
Apr 28, 2023
4 min read

Hello all. I figured if I'm going to call myself "Di Statteo", I'd best start living up to the name otherwise people might think I'm a weirdo Chelsea fan or something... so over the last couple of seasons I've been building various spreadsheet-based engines that, hopefully, will help me to glean stats that make for an interesting read.

As such, here's the first "Stat attack", hopefully of many. At the bottom of this article is a complete list of all the times Newcastle have scored eight or more goals across two games, since the Premier League began (including seasons we were in the division below), to date. Here are a few choice gleanings from those stats. If you'd like to have a look at the spreadsheet, featuring the results of every league game Newcastle have played since August 1992, click here. (Source of information - worldfootball.net)

STAT ATTACK

The Spurs and Everton fixtures mark the 24th time Newcastle have scored 8 or more league goals across 2 games, since the Premier League began. 18 of those instances have been in the Premier League.

The most goals we've scored over two fixtures is 11, against Swindon (7) and West Ham (4) in March 1994. The most goals we've scored across three fixtures is 13 - those two followed by a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town.

Seasons in which we've scored 8 or more goals across 2 games multiple times. Asterisks denote that the same fixture features in two pairs of results.

1992/93 - 4 times (in the second flight)
1993/94 - 3 times*
1994/95 - twice*
1996/97 - twice
1999/00 - twice*
2001/02 - twice
2009/10 - twice* (in the second flight)
2022/23 - 3 times

So, this season marks the first time we've ever scored 8+ goals over three unique pairs of fixtures in one season in the Premier League. Keegan had 3 pairs of games with 8+ goals in one season too, but 2 of them featured the 7-1 against Swindon. This season, we've had:

01/10/2022 A Fulham FC 4:1 (3:0)

08/10/2022 H Brentford FC 5:1 (2:0)

29/10/2022 H Aston Villa 4:0 (1:0)

06/11/2022 A Southampton FC 4:1 (1:0)

23/04/2023 H Tottenham Hotspur 6:1 (5:0)

27/04/2023 A Everton FC 4:1 (1:0)

The last time we scored 9 or 10 goals across 2 league games, before this season, was September 1999 when we beat Sheffield Wednesday 8-0, followed by a 2-3 defeat to Leeds United.

The last two times we scored 8 or more goals across 2 league games, before this season, were December 2013 (3-0 against Crystal Palace and 5-1 against Stoke City) and September 2016 (2-0 against Derby County and 6-0 against Aston Villa). These are the only two times it happened in the Premier League during Mike Ashley's tenure. We did it twice in our 2009/10 Championship season, but both pairs of fixtures include the 6-1 win over Barnsley. As such, in the 14 years that Ashley was in charge, we never scored 8 across 2 unique games twice in a season. In the 14 years before that, we did it three times.

Forgetting about unique games, the figures are as follows:

8+ goals over 2 games in the 15 years before Ashley took over: 17 (1.13 per season)

8+ goals over 2 games in the 14 years Ashley was in charge: 4 (0.29 per season) 8+ goals over 2 games in the 1 almost full season since Ashley left: 3 (3.00 per season)

10+ goals over 3 games in the 15 years before Ashley took over: 25 (1.7 per season)

10+ goals over 3 games in the 14 years Ashley was in charge: 4 (0.29 per season)

10+ goals over 3 games in the 1 almost full season since Ashley left: 3 (3.00 per season)

This means that, no matter what, after this Sunday, Eddie Howe will have scored 10 or more goals over three games, in one season, the same number of times as happened during Ashley's entire tenure.

If we put 3 goals past Southampton on Sunday, we'll have equalled our previous highest goals total across 3 games since the Premier League began.

If we put 4 goals past Southampton on Sunday, not only will we beat that record, but we'll have four pairs of games in a season with 8 or more goals between them, for the first time since 1992/93... in other words, the first time ever in the Premier League.

Make no mistake... the Entertainers are back.

Here's the complete list.

NUFC's pairs of games in which 8 or more goals were scored, during the Premier League era.

* = features a fixture from the previous pair, ie. non-unique

September 1992: 3-1 vs Portsmouth, 5-0 vs Bristol City (8) - 1st Division

March 1993: 3-0 vs Tranmere, 5-1 vs Brentford (8) - 1st Division

April 1993: 3-0 vs Cambridge, 6-0 vs Barnsley (9) - 1st Division

May 1993: 2-1 vs Oxford, 7-1 vs Leicester (9) - 1st Division

March 1994: 1-0 vs Sheff Wed, 7-1 vs Swindon (8) - Prem

March 1994: 7-1 vs Swindon, 4-2 vs West Ham (11) - Prem*

April 1994: 3-2 vs Oldham, 5-1 vs Aston Villa (8) - Prem

August 1994: 4-0 vs Coventry, 5-1 vs Southampton (9) - Prem