Newcastle United are sitting in tenth place in the Premier League table - but where are they predicted to finish when the season comes to an end?
Newcastle United’s hectic fixture schedule continues this week with a long trip to Azerbaijan as they face Qarabag in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie before returning to Premier League action with a visit to title contenders Manchester City next Saturday night.
Some of the negativity surrounding United in the aftermath of their recent home defeat against Brentford has quietened after two impressive away wins - but Eddie Howe’s men still have a lot of work to do if they are push towards the European places over the coming weeks and there is no doubt a visit to an in-form Manchester City side is not an ideal fixture to follow the midweek trek to Azerbaijan.
It has been a difficult season for Howe and his players and they are sitting in tenth place in the table with 12 league games remaining - but where are the Magpies predicted to finish in this season’s Premier League? We take a look at a predicted final table with the help of the stats experts at Opta.
Opta’s latest predicted final Premier League table
Eddie Howe and Mikel Arteta shake hands ahead of the Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle | Getty Imagesplaceholder image
Eddie Howe and Mikel Arteta shake hands ahead of the Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle | Getty Images | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
1st: Arsenal - 81.87 points
2nd: Manchester City - 74.60 points
3rd: Aston Villa - 71.05 points
4th: Liverpool - 62.93 points
5th: Chelsea - 62.76 points
6th: Manchester United - 62.35 points
7th: Brentford - 58.20 points
8th: Bournemouth - 54.17 points
9th: Newcastle United - 53.55 points
10th: Everton - 51.83 points
11th: Sunderland - 49.61 points
12th: Fulham - 49.31 points
13th: Brighton and Hove Albion - 47.39 points
14th: Crystal Palace - 46.70 points
15th: Leeds United - 44.81 points
16th: Tottenham Hotspur - 44.55 points
17th: Nottingham Forest - 40.40 points
18th: West Ham United - 36.08 points
19th: Burnley - 28.46 points
20th: Wolverhampton Wanderers - 19.67 points
What has Eddie Howe said about Newcastle United’s current league position?
Eddie Howe eased pressure surrounding his future with a crucial away win at Tottenhamplaceholder image
Eddie Howe eased pressure surrounding his future with a crucial away win at Tottenham | AFP via Getty Images
Speaking after the midweek win at Tottenham Hotspur, Howe said: "As I said after the press conference at Brentford, that wasn't an act. That was me being very real and very genuine in terms of how I felt. I said again that I've got to believe that I am the right person to be in the job with all the sacrifices that it entails. I've got to feel the players are playing for me. Today they showed that they are. But that has to be consistent moving forward.
"I think it's brought us closer together and it's reinforced relationships and made us all look inward. It made us all look at what we're doing and how we can do it better. This is a really tough job that we're doing. We're at the very highest level. You're constantly asked new questions. We're playing a game every three days. Sometimes that can feel like you can't breathe, you can't reset. You're being asked to play again and again. That's why we rotated the squad to a degree today to try and freshen a couple of players up so they can really find their top form. We need to try and have the ability to do that more if we can get a few players back from injury."
Continue Reading