Newcastle United's squad needs strengthening and the Premier League games the Magpies have to play after Champions League nights is a timely reminder of that
Newcastle United are back in the Champions League
Newcastle United are back in the Champions League
Newcastle United's need for quality new additions is clear - if the Magpies' post-Champions League schedule is anything to go by.
Newcastle have eight exciting league phase games to look forward to in the coming months after Eddie Howe's side secured a seat at Europe's top table.
Although Newcastle have to wait until August 28 to discover who they will face, the black-and-whites already know the lay-out of their Premier League campaign after the fixtures were released this week.
Games against Bournemouth (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Fulham (H), Brentford (A), Everton (A), Sunderland (A), Aston Villa (H) and Liverpool (A) will follow Newcastle's European clashes between September and January.
For context, newly-promoted Sunderland aside, Newcastle picked up eight points from a possible 21 in the equivalent fixtures last season.
Only three of these matches are at home, when Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Aston Villa visit St James' Park, so the black-and-whites will have to travel a combined 1,580 miles in the days after their European clashes.
Newcastle, as a result, have one of the toughest schedules of those five top-flight sides who qualified for the Champions League with Chelsea, in contrast, only having two league games away.
Finding a way to juggle fighting on multiple fronts is going to be a challenge for Newcastle after the squad was decimated by injury a couple of seasons ago.
Newcastle learnt lessons from that campaign, however, and the black-and-whites have been working smarter with the help of performance director James Bunce, which has led to a dramatic improvement in the club's injury record.
According to data from Premier Injuries, Newcastle lost 779 days to injury last year, which was the fourth-best return in the top-flight, while only five sides had fewer lay-offs than Howe's team (24).
Newcastle clearly felt the benefit of being able to just focus on domestic fixtures, but Howe will relish the chance to go toe-to-toe with Europe's elite once again.
"It builds an anticipation, an excitement for the season ahead, which is always great for any football club," the Newcastle boss said last month.
"That unknown feeling - you don't know who you are going to play or where you are going to end up in Europe - is an exciting thing."
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