Alan Shearer's telling Newcastle United comparison as Aston Villa struggles continue

Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has explained why Aston Villa currently remind him of Newcastle United from last season.

Unai Emery's side secured Champions League football last season but have struggled this term. They are currently eight games without a win in all competitions.

A 3-0 defeat away to Chelsea leaves Aston Villa in 12th place, behind Newcastle on goal difference and four points off the top four. The Magpies host the Villa Park club at St James' Park on Boxing Day, which could shape both side's European ambitions.

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Newcastle qualified for Champions League football at the end of the 2022/23 season for the first time in 20 years. However, the next campaign saw a drop off in standards as Eddie Howe's team finished in seventh place and missed out on European football - after Manchester United won the FA Cup.

Despite giving a good account of themselves, Newcastle finished bottom of their Champions League group which included Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan. Aston Villa are enjoying their first taste of UCL football, since last playing in the European Cup in 1983, sitting just outside the top eight on goal difference.

Shearer co-hosts the Rest is Football podcast alongside the departing Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and former Manchester City defender Micah Richards. The ex-England striker made the comparison of the two teams when talking about squad depth.

“No, they haven’t got the bodies,” he said. "They haven’t got the bodies to do that [rotate like Chelsea]. And they can’t do it because of the quality they’re up against. It showed [Sunday] with Aston Villa.

“It reminds me a bit of what Newcastle were last season when they got into the Champions League. The energy they had to put in on a Tuesday and a Wednesday, it’s bound to take it out of you at the weekend and that affected their league position. This is what’s happening to Aston Villa at the minute.”