The opening weekend of the Premier League was a good one for Newcastle United fans.
Saturday’s huge 5-1 win over an Aston Villa team fancied in some circles was a statement of intent from Eddie Howe’s side.
Newcastle thumped Villa at St James’ Park and may finish the opening round of Premier League fixtures top of the table.
Clearly, these are early days and no one is getting too carried away, but pundits are impressed.
Jamie Redknapp purred over Sandro Tonali’s debut, while Micah Richards has been forced to change his pre-season prediction that Howe’s team would finish outside the top four.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
Now, Gary Neville has spoken.
Gary Neville has already spotted two big teams Newcastle are better than
Indeed, the Sky Sports pundit was full of praise for Newcastle during his podcast on Sunday night.
Having watched Chelsea and Liverpool draw at Stamford Bridge, Neville believes Howe’s team are in a much better position than both.
“I actually looked at Newcastle last night in that 5.30pm game last night and you look at these two teams here today [Liverpool and Chelsea] and you think, obviously they’ve got the Champions League to contend with, but they’re in a better spot currently,” he said (12.02 onwards).
“Currently as we stand here now [they’re better] than these two teams and these two teams have spent an absolute shed load of money compared to Newcastle.”
Newcastle have little reason to fear anyone
Manchester City away this weekend is obviously hardly an ideal game but there is little reason for Newcastle to fear.
They have been consistent for a while now and the prospect of playing this Liverpool team at St James’ Park later this month is a mouthwatering one.
Hardly watertight defensively, a Newcastle team packed with goals have to approach that with confidence.
Beaten by the Reds twice last season, it’s time to get revenge.