Newcastle United didn’t exactly feel in the festive spirit when travelling to Ipswich Town last time out, as Eddie Howe’s ruthless Magpies handed out a crushing 4-0 defeat to the hosts in what was their final home game before Christmas.
Now, the Tractor Boys will just hope Arsenal are complacent after celebrations on the 25th, with a daunting trip to the Emirates Stadium now on the Suffolk side’s agenda.
Kieran McKenna will also be desperate to see that lessons have been learnt from that bruising experience versus the Toon, as his side’s defensive frailties cost them dear in that loss.
Ipswich's defensive woes
Newcastle would end up finishing the one-sided affair having carved out a mammoth six big chances, with four of those being taken against the constantly vulnerable hosts.
That means the porous Tractor Boys are now up to 32 goals conceded since promotion, with only Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton conceding more at 37, 40 and 36 respectively.
Nobody from the Ipswich back four particularly covered themselves in glory against Newcastle, as Harry Clarke trudged off the pitch at the end with just one duel won from an attempted five, whilst poor overall passing out from the back enabled Alexander Isak to make it 3-0 on the day.
That horrendous moment was mainly Arjianet Muric’s fault, who has become a scapegoat for the Portman Road masses to latch onto, having severely underwhelmed in recent games when they have been crying out for a more reliable goalkeeper.
Muric's bumpy time at Ipswich
Although the Swede had been lethal with ten goals bagged from his last 11 games, it’s unlikely he will get an easier goal than the one he got against Ipswich to pick up his second of the afternoon, with Isak confidently stroking it past the Kosovan after the ball kindly fell to him.
After shipping four to the thankful Magpies, another game has managed to pass the ex-Manchester City man by without a clean sheet this season, with Muric only managing to boast one to date when Ipswich successfully shut out Brighton and Hove Albion in the middle of September.
He did tally up a mightily impressive six saves when facing off against the Seagulls, as McKenna then went out of his way at the full-time whistle to wax lyrical about his shot-stopper, stating that Muric has a “really high” ceiling and showed his “absolute best” against Fabian Hurzeler’s stern outfit.
Since then, however, the 26-year-old has struggled to keep up these top performances, with a worry that Ipswich might be the second club Muric sends down after swallowing the bitter pill of relegation with Burnley just last campaign.
Premier League
26
46
1
Championship
45
35
20
The table above won’t exactly breed any more confidence either, as that clean sheet for Muric versus the Seagulls was his first ever in the Premier League, with many at Portman Road left wondering why such an inexperienced ‘keeper was snapped up for a bumper £15m, particularly with that unwanted relegation also blotting his CV.
He will hope he can answer back to some of his critics with a heroic showing versus Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, even as they’re just fresh off an emphatic 5-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Ipswich supporters won’t be holding their breath, but McKenna will still believe his £35k-per-week ‘keeper can put in some stellar performances to turn around his stuttering Tractor Boys stay and perhaps help the underdogs survive in the Premier League.
If that doesn’t happen, however, this must be a purchase Ipswich will rue signing off on.
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ByKelan Sarson
