---
title: "Newcastle’s Monday night curse is real, but it isn’t the whole story"
canonical: "https://readnewcastle.com/2026/10/14/newcastle-united-monday-night-curse/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lucie Turner"
section: "Articles"
published: "2026-10-14T13:55:11Z"
modified: "2026-10-14T13:55:11Z"
---

# Newcastle’s Monday night curse is real, but it isn’t the whole story

The Boomtown Rats didn’t like Mondays, and it looks like Newcastle United feel the same way.

Newcastle fans have been asking themselves the same question over the last month: why do things always go wrong under the lights on a Monday?

It is no surprise when you look at the fact that two of Matthias Jaissle’s three Premier League defeats have been on the opening day, both away from home and both by the same 4-1 scoreline. A huge defeat at Leeds on 14 September was followed by another at newly promoted Coventry this week.

The Coventry match was an odd fixture. Newcastle had most of the ball, as they took 19 shots at goal, 6 of which were on target, while Coventry had 6 shots in total, resulting in 4 goals.

The home side took the lead in the sixth minute after Lukas Hornicek made a mistake in goal giving the penalty to Newcastle, which they never really came back from.

Sven Botman scored from distance to pull Newcastle back in, but two goals late in the game won it for Coventry. It was Coventry’s first home victory in the Premier League since 2001 and Jaissle admitted his players performed poorly in the final third.

## **A grim Monday record**

One fan column has put numbers on the pain. According to their calculation, Newcastle have played 35 games on a Monday night since 2010, 29 of which were away games, and they have only won seven and lost 22. Such a win rate is around 20%, with 60 goals conceded and 32 scored.

Those figures have not been independently verified, but they demonstrate a frustration many fans will recognise. An away game on a Monday allows little opportunity to recover from the weekend, with a long journey home throwing fans into a tough start to the week.

## **But the schedule doesn’t explain everything**

It would be unfair to put the blame at the door of the fixture list though, because Newcastle have not lost a run of consecutive games. They have won at Tottenham and then beaten Hull City before the international break, showing that Jaissle can get them results.

The bigger issue is how Newcastle are conceding their goals. Their young midfield ran riot in the September draw with Leeds, but Jaissle admitted his players were failing to stick to the basics.

The Coventry game highlighted similar problems, with a soft opening goal, a limp finish and defensive vulnerability in their own box during quick transitions.

Newcastle are still finding their feet without Eddie Howe, Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, who have all departed in the summer. The squad is also lacking in experience, and that is becoming increasingly apparent.

## **What happens next**

Newcastle lie 14th in the table with eight points. The game on 2 November, when they host Everton at St James’ Park, is the perfect chance for them to prove they are a team that can win on a Monday night in front of their own fans.

Whether this schedule proved the problem or not is a matter for debate for another day, but Jaissle’s team can only quieten the critics by picking up a result on one of these nights.