Newcastle are throwing their season away after giving up another lead at Crystal Palace - Premier League hits and misses
The Sky Sports football writers analyse Newcastle's defeat at Crystal Palace as they take their total for points lost from winning positions to 25, Are Tottenham really good enough to stay up and more...
Sunday 12 April 2026 19:47, UK
Newcastle are quite literally throwing their season away
Had Newcastle not lost all of the points they have from losing positions, they would be second. If they had not lost just half of those points, they would be in fifth.
Eddie Howe called it a "blight" on their season, while Aaron Ramsdale suggested their 25 points dropped is the "story" of their campaign. No team has dropped more while ahead and Newcastle are clear out front by five points.
It's a problem that Howe says the more you think about it, the more it keeps happening. However, Newcastle must stop the rot. They've lost seven of their last 10 matches and Newcastle's season is spiralling and the pressure is ramping up on Howe.
The feeling that Howe's future could be contingent on Newcastle's European status or lack of going into next season is catching up with the Magpies boss. That feeling will grow given the fact that all the teams above them appear to be in the mix while Newcastle watch on.
There has been an air of sympathy for Howe within all this but that is turning to apathy, with fans who travelled down to London didn't even wait to receive applause from the players.
Newcastle are on the beach but after tasting the riches of Champions League football and a first piece of silverware in decades, having their feet up, with flip flops on, is not where they want to be with six games to go.
William Bitibiri
Wake up: Spurs' slide is real
What began as a day of promise for the inception of the Roberto De Zerbi era at Tottenham ended in a crushing reality: Is this side really good enough to stay in the Premier League?
For the majority of this season the narrative has been framed differently. Those of us that comment routinely were posing the question: Are Tottenham really bad enough to go down? Most would answer no. But that stance is swiftly changing after a sombre 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.
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Spurs are compelling relegation contenders. Perhaps, as Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher hypothesised on Super Sunday, a more convincing case than those around them given form and confidence levels. "Tottenham look like they're going to go down," he said, "the other teams have something going for them."
Only Derby, Sunderland and Swindon Town have endured longer winless runs to start a calendar year in the top-flight than Spurs' current streak and all three were relegated in their respective campaigns. De Zerbi needs a miracle to prevent the same fate.
All the warning signs are there. And now what felt like an impossibly shocking eventuality, that had little genuine substance, feels very probable indeed.
Laura Hunter
Le Bris is a manager of the year contender
Sunderland are seriously impressive.
If there were a manual for how to stay in the Premier League as a newly-promoted side, many of Sunderland's best qualities would be listed.
No bells and whistles, just the basics done really well. They value the stuff that often gets overlooked.
Regis Le Bris's side are averaging 1.81 points per game at home, the sixth best ratio in the league. They have kept six clean sheets at the Stadium of Light, with their home defensive record only bettered by Arsenal and Manchester City.
Overall, they have lost the same number of league games as reigning champions Liverpool (10).
To be so consistent over the whole of the campaign with a squad of relative Premier League novices is a credit to Le Bris. It's recognition and proof that it can be done with the right mix of competence and risk. The football is good to watch too.
Sunderland gambled in the summer with such an aggressive recruitment drive, but they knew they had Le Bris to make sense of it all. The Frenchman should be in the conversation for manager of the season. His achievements against all the odds are pretty remarkable.
Laura Hunter
Forest's final third flaws need addressing
The 1-1 draw with Aston Villa for Nottingham Forest had its positives. Forest were organised and resilient to frustrate a talented opponent. But a familiar issue remains front and centre: Forest simply don't do enough where it matters most.
Eight games without a home win tells its own story. The last time the City Ground tasted victory was against Tottenham in December. Since then, the energy has been there, the intent has been there, but the cutting edge has been missing. It's why Sean Dyche was replaced and it's not improved.
Just 14 of their 32 Premier League goals this season have come on home soil - the lowest return in the division.
You can see why when you watch them.
Igor Jesus had moments against Villa where sharper strikers make the difference, half chances that need to become something more. There is a hesitancy and a lack of conviction in the key moments.
Then there's the supply line. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Callum Hutchinson found pockets of space, carried the ball into promising areas and asked questions of the Villa defence. But the final action - the shot, the cross, the decision - just didn't have the quality required.
That's been the theme of their season at the City Ground. And that's the danger for Forest.
Lewis Jones
Familiar story as Watkins fails to convert when it matters
There's a difference between a striker running cold and one developing a reputation and right now, Ollie Watkins is drifting firmly into the latter category.
This isn't a knee-jerk reaction to another frustrating afternoon in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest for the striker. This is a pattern that's been quietly building over the past two seasons.
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Watkins does so much right. His movement stretches defences, his pace is a constant out-ball and his work rate fits perfectly into the demands of modern Premier League football. But when the moment comes in front of goal, the conviction just isn't always there.
Since the start of last season, only Erling Haaland has missed more big chances than Watkins (43). But here's the brutal twist: Haaland has still scored 19 more goals in that same period. That's the difference between a good forward and a ruthless one.
And that's where the concern lies for Aston Villa.
When those missed opportunities start to cost results, like it did at the City Ground where he blazed a one-on-one chance over the bar, it becomes an issue that can't be ignored.
Lewis Jones
The redemption of Jean-Philippe Mateta
On Deadline Day, it was hard to see a way back at Crystal Palace for Jean-Philippe Mateta.
The striker had agitated for a move to AC Milan, which fell through due to an ongoing knee injury - one that then kept him from playing for Crystal Palace for the last four months.
You felt like it would be a somewhat quiet exit in the summer, and possibly tarnish a great legacy at a club where he had been beloved for so long.
But after returning to action on Thursday against Fiorentina, he has now scored three goals in two games, including a double to beat Newcastle off the bench.
As a striker, all you need to do to be loved again is score goals - and that's just what Mateta is doing.
It would have been a true shame for the Frenchman to go out with a whimper at a club where he has done so much, and had a huge hand in the most successful period in their history.
Whether he leaves this summer or not, he is feeling the love from the Crystal Palace fans once again and is showing he is still committed to the club for as long as he remains.
Mateta has also arguably proven in two games that he remains the main man up front, despite the January arrival of Jorgen Strand Larsen.
He is also putting himself in the shop window for France's World Cup squad this summer - one of the main reasons he decided against surgery and focused on other rehabilitation for his knee to allow him to play again.
As Crystal Palace aim for European glory as well as another historic Premier League points tally, Mateta's contributions will continue to be vital.
Charlotte Marsh
