Newcastle are Premier League title challengers - Pep

[Alberts__Lob]

"Newcastle have a good manager and top-class players," said Guardiola. "I imagine they are going to stay there for a long time.

"They have physicality in the middle, box-to-box transitions and their intensity without the ball is impressive.

"Also, they are not playing in Europe, which is a big advantage because when you arrive in the last months you have energy."


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63521543


Do you agree? I remember thinking the same after we beat Spurs but didn't want to sound stupid by mentioning it on here. But the way things are panning out and how strong we look i'm beginning to wonder......especially as we'll be strengthening the team in Jan

We've got Arsenal home and away still to come and Man City at the Etihad......it will really put the cat among the pigeons if we manage to win any of those and we're still in touching distance

[TANYA_]

100% mate, we are definitely worthy of taking notice of in the title race.

We have a massive advantage on the other clubs with only having 1 game a week, whereas the top 7 from last season play at least twice a week.

Leicester won it when things were going good for them, although i don't think we will win the PL this season but it cannot be ruled out completely, before the season started, i fully expected us to finish top 4, even put a bet on a top 4 finish and winning the FA Cup.

People are keeping their expectations low but the reality is we have only lost 6 PL games in 2022, that is outstanding form
and to think 2 of those were to Liverpool (1 robbed), we also lost to Man City, Everton, Spurs and Chelsea

Our form is making people sit up and take notice and to put it into context, look at the top 7's losses in 2022 compared to ours

Man City have lost 2 games - probably will win the league again especially with the goal machine
Liverpool have lost 4 games - will be lucky to get top 4 this season - need a squad overhaul in the summer
Chelsea have lost 7 games - going through a transition period - have plenty of off days
Arsenal have lost 8 games - playing good football at the moment - often fall away in the last months of the season
Spurs have lost 9 games - the club that can implode at any given moment
Man Utd have lost 10 games - starting to get form - will be in the top 4
West Ham have lost 15 games - utter ****e


we have tightened up defensively since our defeats and don't need to fear anyone. My biggest concern is the squad size and strength for next season when we are playing twice a week. Look at West Ham, perfect example, their PL form is garbage because of their European commitments , we see it every year with the Europa league teams, they seem to have bad domestic seasons more than not

[Zippity]

If it was a different season-like the one when Leicester won-then I'd say yes.

But, that season, Liverpool, Man City and Man U were in transition and they took advantage. Plus, they had incredible luck with injuries-their star players were hardly ever injured. That's not to say they didn't deserve it because they absolutely did but a Haaland-inspired City are a different proposition, Arsenal have hit their straps, Potter will bring Chelsea into the conversation and both of those clubs have way deeper squads than we do, especially Chelsea. And that's without mentioning Liverpool and Spurs.

As mentioned elsewhere, I think we're well ahead of where we expected to be-I think injuries and our thin squad depth will catch up with us.

But I'm ok with that-Howe has done an amazing job, as have his coaches and the players have been magnificent.