The Week For Newcastle United 18

mattlewis89
2 hours ago
5 min read

This is a strange week to try and write about because in the last 7 days only 1 win across all our teams but I’m feeling strangely positive after how we played in the champions league this past Wednesday. Of course, I know it’s an isolated game and with our fixture list for February (On to that later) things could change very quickly but I am very hopeful.

Wednesday night started very chaotically. PSG were awarded a ridiculous Penalty, but Nick Pope served out justice with a fantastic save. There was nothing he could do about the Vitinha goal, and I was fearing the worst as PSG largely dominated the 1^st half.

That was Joe Willock scored from a fantastically worked free kick just before half time. The ball was put into the box a wonderful flick on from Dan Burn and Willock headed in.

The second half was much better and the arrival of Barnes and Gordon off the bench gave us some big opportunities to win the game but, in the end, it was a well-earned point.

Eddie changed things up tactically and the line up was very eye-opening and had thing’s gone badly there would have been some big questions to answer but credit to Eddie for that brave decision and to the players who come in they performed well, kept us in the game through difficult moments and gave us a European Campaign to be proud of.

The draw left us finishing in 12^th Place, meaning we will have to navigate a 2 legged play off against Qarabag. It is a winnable tie, but our fixture list in February was already stacked and challenging and the extra 2 games on top of that

As you can see from the fixture list, (Starting with the second leg of our League cup Semi Final) it creates an 11-day period with 4 away games which will add its own concerns but also is that one of the reasons Eddie wanted to give those squad players a chance in such a huge game in Paris? Despite us hanging on by a thread in the league cup we are still fighting across 4 fronts and if we are to have a successful season the likes of 55 Mil Elanga, 40 Mil Ramsay, Woltemade, Wissa etc all need to play their part.

This weekend we head to Liverpool and not many omens are pointing in our favour. The one positive is that were not playing the Liverpool of last season, but we will have to be at our best to get anything from the game.

Slow start to 2026 for the Lasses

Newcastle United women have started 2026 with 2 defeats but the context of those defeats are they were against a WSL side and a WSL in waiting.

I was at the game at the Valley on Sunday and during the first half could see in real time why Charlton have been so impressive this season. However, Tanya Oxtoby made positive changes at half time and we were much improved. Oona scored with a fantastic finish, and we had other chances during the second half to nick that equaliser. The other frustrating part of the afternoon was that there were at least 2 clear occasions (In my opinion) where we should have been given a penalty for handball.

The lasses now are now 11 adrift of Charlton at the top of the league which in reality means that one of the Automatic promotion spots have disappeared and with us sitting 6 points behind Birmingham already and defeat against them in the rearranged game could see the other Automatic spot slip away as well.

However back to my glass half full mentality, if the Birmingham game doesn’t appear before the next international break, our next 4 games see us play 4 of the bottom 6 starting with bottom side Ipswich this Sunday.

Birmingham, Charlton and Bristol City also have FA Cup 5^th round games to worry about and for Charlton and Birmingham likely a QF to additionally think about. As I said before Charlton will take one of the guaranteed spots but with us still to play Birmingham the timing of that fixture and our momentum going into that could be decisive.

The Lasses under 21s had a very positive week. They first qualified for the semi-Final of the PGA Under 21 Plate with a 3-2 win over Charlton Athletic women Under 21s who had beaten them 3 days before.

The followed that with their second league win of the season beating Crystal Palace Women under 21s 4-1.

It has been a struggle for the Lasses Under 21s as they adapted to the level of competition but as the league split happened they have been able to grow into the season and development of that side is on an upward trajectory.

Focus on the League for the Academy

Kacey Wooster has scored plenty of goals for the U18s this season and will hope to keep that form up in the 2nd half of the campaign

Newcastle United Under 18s were defeated 4-0 by Crystal Palace and were eliminated from the FA Youth Cup. With our exit from the competition the focus will solely be on the league which has been widely positive for the under 18s. Thoughts of any potential challenge to Manchester City may have disappeared with our defeat to Liverpool but as I have mentioned in previous articles looking at the under 18 standings since the takeover our points tally has increased year on year and barring a disastrous second half of the season that trend should continue.

The under 21s will return to league action tonight against Wolves looking to try and salvage what has been a poor season and scrape into the play offs.

Results 21^st January-29^th January

Newcastle United Women 3 U21s Vs Charlton Athletic U21s 2(PGA Plate)

Newcastle United 3 Vs PSV 0 (Champions League)

Newcastle United U18s 0 Vs Crystal Palace U18s 4 (FA Youth Cup)

Charlton Athletic Women 2 Vs Newcastle United Women 1(WSL2)

Newcastle United 0 Vs Aston Villa 2 (Premier League)

Newcastle United Women U21s 4 Vs Crystal Palace women under 21s 1 (PGA Division 2)

PSG 1 VS Newcastle United 1 (Champions League)

Fixtures 30^th January-6^th February