The strange reason Newcastle fans should be supporting Liverpool and Man United this season

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Newcastle United have a lot to fight for as they approach the business end of the 2024/25 campaign.

The 4-0 defeat to Manchester City suffered by Newcastle United last Saturday certainly dampened the mood around St James’ Park.

Before that, fans were rightly celebrating reaching the 2025 Carabao Cup final – the second Wembley showpiece reached under Eddie Howe.

There is now less than a month to go until Newcastle face Liverpool in the final, but Howe’s job in the meantime is to get his side focused back on the Premier League.

The City defeat marked the beginning of an incredibly tough run of fixtures, with Newcastle facing third-placed Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon before making the trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Why Newcastle fans should be supporting their biggest rivals

Defeat at the Etihad Stadium knocked Newcastle down to seventh in the Premier League table, but Howe’s side are very much in the race for Champions League qualification.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	ChelseaChelsea	25	12	7	6	47	34	13	43
7	NewcastleNewcastle	25	12	5	8	42	33	9	41
8	FulhamFulham	25	10	9	6	38	33	5	39

Newcastle are targeting a Champions League return this season, but it will require a strong end to the season.

Newcastle’s Champions League dream would be made significantly easier if the Premier League were granted a fifth qualification spot, and there is a strong possibility of that being the case this season.

Under the new Champions League format, two nations will get an extra ‘wildcard’ qualification spot depending on their Uefa coefficient points.

According to the current Uefa rankings, England remain at the top of the coefficient table despite Manchester City crashing out of the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Points are awarded for wins and draws in European competitions, meaning Newcastle ideally need their biggest Premier League rivals to perform well in continental competitions – including the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.

England still have six teams in European competition, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham also of interest to Newcastle.

Why Newcastle United need Champions League return

Newcastle raised eyebrows when they qualified for the Champions League in 2022/23 for the first time in 20 years. It reflected the huge progress made at St James’ Park following the PIF takeover.

At the time, it was an added bonus for a club looking to return to the top. Now, Newcastle are finding that Champions League qualification is becoming essential.

That is because Alexander Isak is demanding Champions League football in order to strike a new contract in the summer.

READ MORE: ‘Phenomenal’ winger scouted by Newcastle United just dropped 10/10 Champions League display

Howe is desperate to keep hold of his best players – including the likes of Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali – but Newcastle’s star-studded core will want to play in Europe’s most prestigious competition.

PIF expect Howe to qualify for Europe this season. The expectations at Newcastle are growing bigger and bigger, and returning to the Champions League will now likely be the aim every year.