Chris Sutton and Micah Richards predict whether they think Newcastle will finish in the top four

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The BBC’s football pundits have all predicted their Premier League top four for the coming season and Newcastle United featured in a few predictions.

It’s not news to anybody that Newcastle aren’t fancied to repeat last season’s efforts in the Premier League with many pundits and fans expecting the Magpies to finish lower than fourth this season with Liverpool and Chelsea expected to do much better than they did last year.

Aston Villa are also looking very good heading into the new campaign and if Tottenham keep hold of Harry Kane which is looking likely given that he put a deadline of today to sort out his future, they too could be back in the mix for the Champions League spots.

Only four of 26 BBC pundits backed Newcastle for top four

With that being said then, it’s no real surprise to see so few BBC pundits back Newcastle to finish in the top four. In fact only Chris Waddle, Shay Given, Pat Nevin and Lindsay Johnson were the only four out of the 26 pundits to predict the Magpies to keep their top-four status.

Michah Richards and Chris Sutton, who are usually fairly pro-Newcastle both think that Eddie Howe‘s men will slip out of the top-four.

It seems that even Newcastle fans can’t agree on where the Magpies will finish this season. There is, obviously, a lot of expectation around the club now having finished fourth last campaign and adding some real quality in the summer transfer window.

Even if Newcastle finish outside of the top four it’s not a backwards step

However, most of, if not all of the teams around us have improved significantly too, and absolutely nobody expects Chelsea to have another stinking season like they did last year.

With improved competition in the league added to the fact that Newcastle will be competing in the Champions League on top of the Premier League and two cups, many suggest Newcastle will struggle to sustain the challenge this season.

I can understand that feeling. I myself have said that if we finish top eight I don’t see that as a backwards step given all the extra challenges. Especially if we back that up with another good cup-run and escaping the Champions League group stages.