Why Newcastle United's goalscoring problem is much more complex than it seems

For too long, the narrative around Newcastle United’s teething issues in attack has been too simplistic.

Alexander Isak’s departure has obviously had a huge impact on their output and potential up front, and the clear contrast in style with his replacement, Nick Woltemade, has been problematic.

Newcastle have drawn three successive Premier League away games 0-0, but Sunday’s gut-wrenching 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at St James’ Park arguably did just as much to illustrate the depth of difficulty Eddie Howe is facing as he tries to get his team firing. From 1-0 up, they succumbed to two late goals on a demoralising afternoon.

How can Newcastle United fix their attack?

Naturally, Woltemade has been in sharp focus. The 23-year-old German striker is Newcastle’s record signing, a title he took from Isak as he replaced him in the team, and a lot rests on him proving a success on Tyneside. His unique playing style and differences to Isak have been debated in detail, and there was a consensus that he wasn’t going to replicate the incredible impact the Swede had before him.

Nobody in Newcastle’s price range was ever going to do that, though. Isak’s numbers are the reason he felt he had outgrown his surroundings, and why he is now playing for the reigning Premier League champions.

While it is true Woltemade’s style has caused Newcastle to find new ways of attacking – he prefers to drop deep and link play while Isak’s ability to run in behind is frightening – it is also true he has scored his team’s only winning goal in the league this season, and the opener against Arsenal.

Crucially, he has scored more goals than Isak at the same stage last season. Therein lies the real issue with Newcastle’s attack.

Six games have now passed in the Premier League, and Newcastle have scored four goals. Woltemade has scored two, Bruno Guimaraes has one, and William Osula also has one. After the same number of games in 2024/25, Isak only scored once, Harvey Barnes three times, Anthony Gordon twice, Joelinton and Fabian Schar once. Double the number of goals, shared much more evenly across the pitch.

Newcastle have suffered because that supply line from different areas hasn’t been replicated. Osula also scored twice in the Carabao Cup win over Bradford City on Wednesday before playing over 25 minutes from the bench on Sunday; while his development should be noted, he is still far off the standard required to be fully relied upon in a Champions League campaign.

Due to the speculation over Isak’s future dominating the entire summer, there was some mitigation for a slow start in August. Woltemade’s introduction was rushed due to Yoane Wissa, the other summer striker signing, suffering an untimely knee injury on international duty. Gordon’s three-match suspension was unhelpful too. But as the excuses pile up, so do the dropped points and missed opportunities; serious questions need asking.

Jacob Murphy scored eight league goals last term but has not looked like picking up where he left off, while Barnes has been rather ineffectual given his extended run in the team in Gordon’s absence. Anthony Elanga needs time to settle after his summer move, but no goals or assists yet is contributing to the wider issue.

Eddie Howe admitted after the Arsenal defeat that his side lacked quality, and he was facing a challenge in trying to get more from them in upcoming games.

“I think harsh words are sometimes needed,” he said. “Whether that is to the team or to individuals, I will usually look to do it on an individual basis.

“What I look for is effort, commitment, desire and organisation. There are so many things that go into a performance.

“I am seeing the effort there, but the quality was lacking. So I have to be very careful. You don't want to make the morale or the mood worse, I will be very reflective tonight and figure out a way forward tomorrow.”

Howe also admitted his team were not at their sharpest with fixtures already piling up. – with Tino Livramento suffering potential ligament damage now, too. They face Union Saint-Gilloise away in the Champions League on Wednesday.

“Early on in the game we didn't look our best physically. We looked jaded. We took the lead and sometimes you will have days, especially with the schedule we have this season, where you are not physically at your best and you have to find a way to win and we weren't able to do that.”

Conceding twice in the final 10 minutes was tough to take for Newcastle, but Arsenal got what they deserved in the end. There was more intent and quality in their play when it mattered. The Magpies defended well, but that has only taken them so far this season, and not far enough in this game.

Isak leaving has forced Newcastle into a reset at a point when they were looking to explode onto the next level. Woltemade will take time to settle after early positivity and Wissa is undoubtedly a huge miss. But the real reason for the lack of goals requires much more collective responsibility and that needs to happen immediately.