Burnley v Newcastle preview ahead of Turf Moor clash

Welcome to the Burnley v Newcastle preview.

Tuesday 30th December and a 7.30pm kick-off.

The Toon travel to Burnley on Tuesday night to play their last match of 2025.

The travelling Toon Army have been starved of victories in the league this season with our only win coming against Everton.

Newcastle will be looking to put that right against one of the poorest teams in the league so far, in yet another televised encounter.

Former Toon captain Scott Parker will be hoping his Burnley side can get one over his former employers and build upon two draws in their last two matches.

Form

The Toon have won two, drawn two and lost two of their last six league games, an accurate reflection of a very inconsistent season so far. Wins have come over Everton and Burnley, whereas Toon fans were left desperately disappointed to only draw at home to both Tottenham and Chelsea. Defeats have come away at the Mackems and Man United. We’ve scored ten goals in these matches and conceded eight. The eight points gained has us fourteenth in the league but a win could see us rise to eighth on goal difference.

Burnley have lost four and drawn two of their past six league matches. They’ve lost to Brentford, Fulham, The Toon and Crystal Palace, but have drawn their last two matches with Bournemouth and Everton. They’ve scored five goals and conceded ten. The two points gained has them nineteenth in the league and a win could see them up to eighteenth, just three points behind Nottingham Forest.

Last time out

Newcastle played Man United on Boxing Day and ended up on the receiving end of a barely believable 1-0 defeat. Behind early on, the second half was almost an attack vs defence training match where NUFC battered Man United and did everything but score on a deeply frustrating evening. The key passage of play came halfway through the second half when Lewis Hall hit the bar, the Toon had a penalty appeal turned down and then Gordon missed a golden chance to level the scores. Had we profited from any of those three instances then we would have gone on to win comfortably. Despite forty-five minutes of constant pressure from the black and whites, the ball didn’t end up in the net and we were left to rue the loss of three points that would have seen us leapfrog the red devils.

Burnley hosted Everton on Saturday and held the blues to a 0-0 draw in a poor match of very few chances. Despite this they may see the result as a point gained having drawn successive matches to achieve their first points since the end of October.

Stat attack!

-Newcastle have won four of their past five matches away at Burnley.

-NUFC have only failed to find the net on two Premier League occasions at Turf Moor.

-Toon have scored eleven Premier League goals away at Burnley, conceding seven.

Memorable match

In April 2021, Newcastle travelled to Turf Moor in a match played behind closed doors due to the covid pandemic. Steve Bruce’s Toon were barely above the relegation zone and things looked bleak when Burnley took an early lead. The half-time break saw Newcastle deservedly behind and the start of the second half had seen very little improvement. An inspired substitution however was to completely change the course of the match. Saint-Maximin came off the bench in the fifty-seventh minute and instantly twisted in the area to set up Murphy for the equaliser. Things were to get even better for United just five minutes later when Saint-Maximin showed fancy footwork to create a little space and then buried an effort into the bottom corner from outside of the box to win the match and ease relegation fears for the Toon, who went six points clear of the danger zone with seven games remaining. Burnley 1-2 Newcastle.

Played for both

Jonjo Shelvey signed for Steve McClaren in 2016 and made an instant impact in a man of the match display at home to West Ham on his debut. He stayed with us after relegation at the end of that season and became an integral part of the side that gained promotion under Rafa Benitez. He spent six and a half years at NUFC. Highlights include a fine free-kick in a 2-0 win over Brighton and a man of the match performance in an incredible 4-3 win against Norwich where he loaded the bullets for Dwight Gayle to fire home a hat-trick on a night when NUFC scored twice five minutes into injury time to send St James’ Park into raptures. He played two games for Burnley earlier on this year before moving abroad.

Jeff Hendrick spent four years at Burnley, scoring nine goals in one-hundred and twenty-two league matches. He signed for NUFC in 2020 but only made twenty-five appearances in four years. Needless to say, he didn’t have many highlights at the Toon but did score and assist on his debut away at West Ham in a fine 2-0 win.

Nick Pope spent six years at Burnley before signing for NUFC in 2022 and was voted their player of the year in both 17/18 and 19/20. He moved to St James’ Park following Burnley’s demotion from the Premier League. The highlight of his time on Tyneside is making a fine save on the day we won the League Cup, our first major trophy for fifty-six years.

Managers

Eddie Howe after a 1-0 defeat away at Man United:

“The second half was a lot better than the first but we didn’t do enough, we have to do more. It was not through a lack of effort, we were very dominant in that second period and I thought if we scored we would go on to win. We started very well in the first 15 minutes, we were slightly rocked with the goal and we didn’t react well to that. The game was there for us to take. We didn’t look as good physically as we did against Chelsea when we were excellent. There wasn’t a tactical problem for us at any stage of the game, we’re disappointed with how we defended the goal and long throws was something we prepared for and then disappointed with our actions. We cut through them a lot of times, put in a lot of crosses and the chances were not there. If we had scored that equalising goal the momentum was with us but it was not to be.”

Scott Parker following a 0-0 draw at home to Everton:

“I thought we were well worthy of the three points today. We came here understanding what we needed to be and we were every bit of that. The fine margins of what the Premier League is – we didn’t put our chances away when we had some real good chances. We’re frustrated because we were very, very close today to getting the three points and we’ve not managed to do that. It’s a clean sheet, a point and a good performance and that’s what encourages me.”

Charity

As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.

Prediction

The term ‘must-win game’ is often thrown about unnecessarily, especially within the context of a thirty-eight game season. This however truly is a must-win for NUFC, who have developed the alarming habits of dropping points from winning positions, as well struggling to come from behind. When coupled with dreadful away form, these have all contributed to a current mid-table position for a team that had previous ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League. Last season we struggled until December and went on an unbelievable run to climb into the top five. We need to do something similar this time around and that has to start here. Burnley 0-2 Newcastle