Newcastle vs Bournemouth

Bournemouth should have had this one wrapped up long before the final whistle. They tore into Newcastle from the start at St James' Park on Saturday, 5 September 2026, and led 2-1 at the break despite the hosts nicking an early goal. Newcastle huffed and puffed after the interval, dragging themselves level, but the truth is Bournemouth carved out chance after chance and only their finishing let them down. Eight shots for Newcastle, seventeen for the visitors - the gulf in quality of opportunities was obvious even if the scoreboard settled at 2-2. Tavernier was the difference for Bournemouth, pulling the strings all afternoon and picking up the Man of the Match award with a rating of 8.2. For Newcastle, there's relief at salvaging a point after being second best for long spells, but it could easily have been damage limitation rather than parity. Bournemouth will feel a couple of points went missing here given how thoroughly they dominated proceedings.

It finished 2-2 between Newcastle and Bournemouth at St James' Park, a scoreline that summed up a game short on clear separation between the two sides. Neither team could really take control of the ball for long, with Newcastle holding 57% possession, close enough to an even split to explain why the game never settled into one side's favour. There were spells of pressure from both teams, but not enough to turn a share of the points into all three. Days like this are part of a long season, and how each side responds in their next fixture will say plenty about their form heading forward. Here is a closer look at how the two teams compared statistically.