In the Premier League at the moment, Newcastle have only won 9 points after 8 matches and are ranked 14th. The 3-0 victory over Benfica this morning was their 7th clean sheet in 12 matches since the beginning of the season.
This index proves that Newcastle may have lost many matches since the beginning of the season, but looking at the overall picture, they have a very good defense. This is also Eddie Howe's best achievement in the same period since the English coach led the St. Petersburg team. James' Park. As long as they continue to keep a large number of clean sheets, Newcastle will bounce back at any time.
Looking back at the victory over Benfica, it is easy to see that Newcastle's wings are flying very high. Anthony Gordon - who received the MVP award has had 1 goal and 1 assist. The English striker has scored four goals in three Champions League games since the start of the season.

After the match, Jose Mourinho admitted that Benfica could not cope with the speed, fitness and strength of the Newcastle players. The veteran strategist shared that Newcastle has too many players with high speed that makes it impossible for his team to keep up.
In the win over Benfica, striker Nick Woltemade only had 1 touch in the box. Is this a concern for The Magpies? The answer is yes but not to the point of being serious. Newcastle have still scored 3 goals and those goals have come from many different attackers. Woltemade may have made few appearances but as long as he scored important goals, that was enough for Eddie Howe.
What Howe needs to focus on right now is to maintain his form after the win over Benfica to maintain it in the Premier League. Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga have all not scored any goals after 8 matches in the Premier League despite always playing very hard.
Explaining this, Gordon himself did not understand why his individual achievements in the two awards were so contrasted. The striker shared that he always tries to approach every match with the same attitude but has not found the reason why his Premier League performance is not as expected at the moment.

Obviously, The Magpies are lacking consistency in their goals in each specific match in the Premier League and Champions League. The victory over Benfica, in addition to being enhanced by the strikers, the solidity of goalkeeper Nick Pope is also expected to be the foundation for the whole team to rise in the Premier League. The English goalkeeper may not be the best player in the tournament, but to create chaos for the opponent's attack, Pope is always the one who is very excellent.
Eddie Howe shared that he really hopes the solidity of the defense will be the foundation in the coming period of the team. This season, Newcastle have lost many games by a small margin or lost in the last minute. Therefore, if they maintain the solidity shown against Benfica, the goal of a ticket to the European Cup next season is not a science fiction for the "Magpies" this season.
