Alan Shearer’s “unusual” observation from Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton

However, failing to match our opponent physically has rarely been a weakness of Eddie Howe’s Mags for over four years now.

Much of the post-match concerns from Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton commented on our sloppiness on the ball and inability to Bart Verbruggen before Nick Woltemade’s classy flick drew us level, yet Alan Shearer has picked out a concerning running stat from the game.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer revealed that Brighton ran SIX kilometres more than Newcastle while out of possession on Saturday.

Discussing the game and our below-par running stats, our former No.9 said: “They are brilliant players, but they didn’t function well today, but I don’t think the team did.

“When we conceded the second goal, we were the dominant team. We responded really well in the second half. They (Brighton) didn’t have many attacks in that spell, but they did go and score.

“Newcastle, I thought, were too easy to play through at times. They covered six kilometres less ground than Brighton out of possession.

“It was unusual for Newcastle, the first goals they have conceded away from home.”

In a game that saw Joelinton stay in first gear in a poor first half display, Tonali beaten too easily in the build up to Brighton’s opener and both of our wingers struggle to beat their man, it was a subdued display at times, all while Baleba and Minteh seemed to cover every blade of grass for the home side.