In terms of European competition qualification Newcastle Utd find themselves featuring in another ‘six pointer’ when they face Tottenham Hotspur in the Saturday lunchtime 12:30pm kick off courtesy of TNT Sports.
Last weekend’s away win against Fulham, alongside the home win against West Ham Utd and the point gained – or was it two points dropped – against Everton, Eddie Howe’s squad now find themselves back in the fight, sitting in 8th place; thirteen points adrift from fourth and fifth place berths currently occupied by Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively.
However, with only two points separating them from Manchester Utd and West Ham Utd, a European place remains well within touching distance.
So, for those who are starting to see the season as somewhat a failure after the high of finishing fourth and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League last season the message is; have patience and let’s see where the last seven games of the season take us.
Home fixtures follow against Sheffield Utd and Brighton while visits to Crystal Palace, Burnley, and a rearranged trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester Utd await Howe’s squad before the season comes to a conclusion when they face Brentford at the GTECH stadium.
Spurs still have to face Arsenal, Burnley and Manchester City at home and have visits to Chelsea and Liverpool and Sheffield Utd while Villa have visits to Arsenal, Brighton, and Palace as well as hosting Bournemouth, Chelsea, and Liverpool.
West Ham Utd meanwhile face visits to Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester City and well as hosting Fulham, Liverpool, and Luton Town.
And when you add to the mix the fact that Villa and West Ham are both involved in conference and Europa league games respectively – Villa face a quarter final tie against French side Lille while West Ham come up against runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen in their quarter final Europa league tie - additional games for both teams could well be a possibility.
So, there is a lot of football to be played between now and May 19th to keep Newcastle supporters engaged before the final premier league positions are known and next season’s European places allocated.
Last weekend’s away win against Fulham, alongside the home win against West Ham Utd and the point gained – or was it two points dropped – against Everton, Eddie Howe’s squad now find themselves back in the fight, sitting in 8th place; thirteen points adrift from fourth and fifth place berths currently occupied by Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively.
However, with only two points separating them from Manchester Utd and West Ham Utd, a European place remains well within touching distance.
So, for those who are starting to see the season as somewhat a failure after the high of finishing fourth and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League last season the message is; have patience and let’s see where the last seven games of the season take us.
Home fixtures follow against Sheffield Utd and Brighton while visits to Crystal Palace, Burnley, and a rearranged trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester Utd await Howe’s squad before the season comes to a conclusion when they face Brentford at the GTECH stadium.
Spurs still have to face Arsenal, Burnley and Manchester City at home and have visits to Chelsea and Liverpool and Sheffield Utd while Villa have visits to Arsenal, Brighton, and Palace as well as hosting Bournemouth, Chelsea, and Liverpool.
West Ham Utd meanwhile face visits to Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester City and well as hosting Fulham, Liverpool, and Luton Town.
And when you add to the mix the fact that Villa and West Ham are both involved in conference and Europa league games respectively – Villa face a quarter final tie against French side Lille while West Ham come up against runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen in their quarter final Europa league tie - additional games for both teams could well be a possibility.
So, there is a lot of football to be played between now and May 19th to keep Newcastle supporters engaged before the final premier league positions are known and next season’s European places allocated.