Despite the turbulent summer that has unfolded on Tyneside, there’s still a lot to be optimistic about at Newcastle United.
Still boasting perhaps the best midfield in the Premier League in Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, as defensively solid as ever, and with some exciting new names through the door in Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey.
So even with the dark cloud that is the Alexander Isak debacle looming over the club, as a Premier League side, we’re as strong as we’ve ever been since the takeover.
And it’s something that’s been recognised across the media, as Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville each back us to do well this campaign.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, the pair gave their annual prediction of how they think the Premier League will pan out, including top six predictions, who will get relegated, and certain players to watch.
And we feature in both man’s top six prediction, with Carragher believing we’ll finish 5th – which should be enough for Champions League football – and Neville backing us to come 6th.
On his prediction, Neville commented “The PSR is killing them a little bit in terms of being able to invest freely. I think they’ll have a good season, they’ll do okay, but I don’t think they’ll have that spark to get into 5th and into Champions League.”
And whilst Carragher has backed us to finish higher, he attributes this to us experiencing some more misfortune in Europe this season, ultimately freeing up our schedule for a strong run later in the campaign.
“I’m not sure Newcastle and Spurs will have too much European football after Christmas,” said Carragher.
Carragher also thinks Villa will have a strong run in the Europa League, but thinks that may see their league form suffer slightly given PSR hasn’t allowed them to strengthen much this summer.
Elsewhere in their predictions, Neville once again goes quite outlandish with his: backing Manchester United to finish 4th and Arsenal to win the title over Liverpool and Manchester City.
Erling Haaland is agreed to be the favourite to once again win the Premier League golden boot: he already has two to his name after City’s 0-4 win away at Molineux, and will benefit from Mo Salah likely heading to AFCON, Cole Palmer misfiring, and Alexander Isak missing games at the start of the reason through his strike and lack of pre-season training.
And Carragher further endears himself to us with his prediction that Sunderland will be one of the three teams to go down. Burnley and Wolves are shared picks from the pair, but Neville oddly thinks Leeds will be relegated instead of the Mackems, despite both clubs enjoying lavish summer spending sprees.
None of our players nor Eddie Howe are seen as ‘ones to watch’ by Neville and Carragher, who opted Chelsea’s Estevao and Bournemouth’s Truffert. See all their picks below:
