Ben Foster has given his verdict on who will finish higher in the Premier League between Newcastle United and Manchester United this season.
Despite being under an incredible amount of pressure, Ruben Amorim is actually sitting higher in the table than Eddie Howe.
Manchester United have picked up 16 points from their opening nine games, sitting four points above Newcastle United.
However, former Red Devils goalkeeper Ben Foster believes the two sides will have swapped positions by the end of the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Ben Foster does not hesitate in picking Newcastle
During the latest episode of the Football Fill-in on Foster’s YouTube channel, the ex-stopper was asked to choose who will finish higher in the Premier League this season between Manchester United and Newcastle United.
Foster did not hesitate, backing the Magpies to finish above his former employers.
He then backed Aston Villa to finish above Manchester United as well, before also stating that Unai Emery’s side would end the season higher up the table than Newcastle.
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Despite a challenging start to the campaign, Villa have stabilised themselves. Like Manchester United, they are above Newcastle and will be full of confidence after beating Manchester City on Sunday.
The advantage Manchester United have over Newcastle
When it comes to Newcastle and Manchester United, Amorim has one key advantage over Howe.
After performing so poorly last season, they are not in Europe at all. They have also been dumped out of the Carabao Cup, losing to Grimsby Town in the second round. All they have to do is focus on their Premier League commitments until the FA Cup third round arrives in January.
In contrast, Newcastle are competing on all fronts. They have started their Champions League campaign very well, while they are taking their defence of the Carabao Cup very seriously too.
Harvey Barnes celebrates scoring a goal for Newcastle United against Benfica in the Champions League.
Photo by Trevor Wilkinson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The fixture list is relentless for Howe, forcing him to constantly rotate his Newcastle United squad. It is vital he does that, otherwise there could be another injury crisis like the one his side endured during the 2023/24 season.
Alan Shearer thinks European football is impacting Newcastle, but they are coping with the demands relatively well so far. As long as that continues, they have a chance of proving Foster right and finish above Manchester United.