The struggles of Rafa Benitez and Newcastle United have continued this season as their winless run extended to nine games on Saturday.
Not since a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on October 21, thanks to a Mikel Merino goal, have they picked up three points.
At that time, the victory propelled them to seventh spot in the Premier League table, just two points off the Champions League places.
However, just one point from the last nine games has resulted in the Magpies plummeting down the standings.
Their defeat at Arsenal on Saturday coupled with West Ham United’s impressive victory at Stoke City sees the Magpies sitting in the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Given the situation, the decision has been taken to postpone the club’s Christmas party in order to focus on improving performances.
The former Real Madrid boss has used two systems throughout those nine games, a 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 and the latter formation has worked out marginally better.
When Newcastle have set up in that way, they haven’t lost by more than two goals aside from their defeat against Chelsea.
