3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0 | OneFootball

Saturday afternoon’s match ended Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0.

Ahead of each game we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives following the match.

An interesting afternoon at Villa Park…

Plenty to talk about after this one.

On this occasion it is David Punton:

POSITIVES

Could have been a lot worse

The fear was that Villa Park on the opening day was going to be a really tough ask but we coped and played quite well.

We looked good in midfield and out wide.

The defence kept it clean against a home side having that opening day stagefright.

The positive slant is that the game gave us something to build on after a poor run in pre-season.

Pace

Gordon and Elange give us such a fast front line.

If Eddie Howe can harness those two then we could really cause sides some problems.

Keeping it clean

It was nice for the keeper and the back four to come off with the clean sheet after a pre-season where we conceded plenty.

Burn and Schar are so experienced and the return of Botman allied to the arrival of Malick Thiaw will keep them on their toes too.

NEGATIVES

Striker light

The absence of a certain Mr A. Isak was glaring.

If we’d had the Swede out there we’d be talking about an lovely opening day win.

The situation is crazy and the player has massively let down the club, by apparently downing tools in an effort to force a transfer.

Surely his team mates cannot be impressed with all of this? They needed him at Villa Park and he was nowhere to be seen.

Why can’t he just go about this the right way and keep playing for us until he’s told otherwise, like Eze and Guehi at Palace?

The fans made their view clear at full time.

Costly inertia

The club’s slow approach to recruitment may have cost us on Saturday too.

If we’d had the replacement for Wilson in place – a number nine – then we could again be talking about a win and not a 0-0.

We’ve missed out on targets and it’s bled into the opening weekend of the season, which is far from ideal.

Man advantage

It was a shame we failed to capitalise on our man advantage after Konsa saw red midway through the second half.

At that stage a win looked there for the taking but we just failed to find a way through.

A point away from home but in the circumstances it felt like two dropped.

Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 16 August 2025 12.30pm

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Villa

Konsa red card 66

(Stats in brackets are at half-time)

Possession was Newcastle 59% (58%) Villa 41% (42%)

Total shots were Newcastle 16 (8) Villa 3 (0)

Shots on target were Newcastle 3 (2) Villa 3 (0)

Corners were Newcastle 6 (3) Villa 3 (2)

Touches in the box Newcastle 33 (18) Villa 14 (5)

Newcastle team v Aston Villa:

Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento, Joelinton (Miley 83), Tonali, Bruno, Barnes (Osula 90), Gordon, Elanga (Jacob Murphy 78)

Unused subs:

Ramsdale, Hall, Botman, Thiaw, Krafth, Seung-soo

(BBC Sport comments from ‘neutrals’ – Interesting on Newcastle United after Aston Villa 0-0…Read HERE)

(Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0 – Match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players – Read HERE)

(Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0 – Instant Newcastle United fan/writer reaction – Read HERE)

(Match Report – United’s demise much exaggerated as by far the better team – It ends Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0 – Read HERE)

Opening Newcastle United match schedule:

Saturday 16 August – Aston Villa 0 Newcastle 0

Monday 25 August – Newcastle v Liverpool (8pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 30 August – Leeds v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 13 September – Newcastle v Wolves (3pm)