Newcastle United could hardly have had a tougher start to this Premier League season but with so much football still to be played where they finish the campaign is anyone’s guess.
According to The Athletic Newcastle had the most tricky start to the campaign by a considerable margin. So with three games gone and three points on the board, fans should take some comfort in the fact that no team has had it as tough.
To continue the positivity, although there’s still the testing fixture against Brighton to come this weekend, things should get a bit easier from then on for a short while so hopefully the Magpies can pick up some points and build their confidence before the next “big six” side comes along.
Michail Antonio was complimentary about Newcastle’s chances
It’s a marathon not a sprint, and while Geordie heads are down somewhat right now, we all know what this side are capable of and I’m sure even the most pessimistic amongst the fanbase can see that things will get better.
With all this in mind, it’s interesting to see how outsiders view our season and West Ham‘s Michail Antonio has said his piece on how he thinks Newcastle will get on this season.
Despite it clearly being ‘pick on Callum Wilson week’ on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Antonio was quite complimentary about Newcastle’s chances this season saying: “Newcastle, obviously, a bit of a bad start but still a quality team. There is opportunity for them. I don’t think they will win the league, but pushing for a Champions League spot – I would give it to them.”
Finishing in the Champions League spots again has to be the aim for Eddie Howe‘s side, but I am among those fans who won’t see it as the end of the world if we fall short this year.
Champions League will affect Newcastle in the Premier League
We’re back in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years and a lot of our squad are inexperienced in this, so it’s going to be a huge learning experience. The extra fixtures, the travelling and the quick turnaround between games will take its toll on our league performances.
It would obviously be gutting to miss out on a second consecutive Champions League campaign, but we got there too early, so if we miss out for one season we just get to build a better squad for getting back in there the season after.
Saying that, I do genuinely believe that we have the quality to mitigate all of those issues I mentioned and we could absolutely finish in a qualification spot – Prepare for the worst and you can’t be disappointed.
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