Three-and-a-half months. 113 days. Eight games. Those are the damning statistics that underline Newcastle’s drastic home form since a late win over Crystal Palace at St James’ Park in late October. Five of those eight games have ended in defeat and home supporters have been forcibly drip-fed goals with United managing to score just four times on their own turf in that horrible sequence. Three points from a possible 24 is just not good enough. Benitez will be acutely aware of that. As will the players.
But, somewhere along the line, that bad form will eventually break. It doesn’t last forever, which is something we can all take solace in. And there’s no reason why Newcastle can’t end their St James’ cold streak by scoring an unlikely victory over Manchester United. One thing is for certain. Benitez and his players will be desperate to avoid equalling the record nine-match run without a home win set by Ruud Gullit’s side in 1999. That will be motivation enough.
