Newcastle United ‘only’ in Premier League top four after eight matches – Really a disaster? | OneFootball

Premier League top four has become the target.

All the clubs knowing that this now guarantees Champions League football AND money.

This has moved the goalposts compared to back in the day.

You have the competition to see who wins the Premier League.

Then you arguably have an even bigger and more important one when it comes to who will fill the other three spots in that Premier League top four.

It has never been more important.

As without regular Champions League qualification, it becomes ever more difficult/impossible to compete.

Newcastle United are one of those in the mix for Champions League top four, now that Mike Ashley is history after a decade and a half of only allowing NUFC to try and crawl from one season to the next, with the lowest possible spend.

These have been the Premier League results so far for Newcastle United in 2024/25:

Newcastle 1 Southampton 0

Bournemouth 1 Newcastle 1

Newcastle 2 Tottenham 1

Wolves 1 Newcastle 2

Fulham 3 Newcastle 1

Newcastle 1 Man City 1

Everton 0 Newcastle 0

Heading into this October 2024 international break, this is now how the Premier League table looks:

In the Premier League round of matches that immediately follows on from this international break, these are the 10 games:

Saturday 19 October

Tottenham v West Ham (12.30pm)

Fulham v Aston Villa (3pm)

Ipswich v Everton (3pm)

Man U v Brentford (3pm)

Newcastle United v Brighton (3pm)

Southampton v Leicester (3pm)

Bournemouth v Arsenal (5.30pm)

Sunday 20 October

Wolves v Man City (2pm)

Liverpool v Chelsea (4.30pm)

Monday 21 October

Forest v Palace

Bottom line is that if Newcastle United win at home to Brighton, as well as Villa losing at Fulham and Chelsea losing at Liverpool, then Eddie Howe’s side will be guaranteed to be in the Premier League top four with eight games of the season gone, almost a quarter of the league campaign behind us. United would also go Premier League top four if winning by three or more goals against Brighton, with Villa drawing and Chelsea losing.

All of these results more than possible, indeed very likely some would say.

Forget everything else, this is where we would be with a win over Brighton and a couple of rivals losing away from home against two other clubs currently in the top eight.

Eddie Howe and the Newcastle United players have battled their way to those 12 points and of course it could and should have been 14 points and level with Chelsea and Villa, if getting the deserved win on Saturday when battering Everton but failing to finish them off.

It is time for some Newcastle United fans to bin the overwhelming negativity they are apparently loving.

This could be a great platform to attack the rest of the season, with a home win over Brighton and seeing what happens elsewhere, especially in these two matches mentioned above, involving four teams currently in the top eight.

All teams have parts of the season where their form and/or performances dip, just think if this opening quarter of the season proves to be just that for Newcastle United when we look back at this season, yet potentially be in the Premier League top four after those opening eight PL games…