2017/18 Premier League Preview Newcastle United
Having endured a terrible time in the 2015/16 Premier League season, Newcastle United were relegated, despite securing the services of Rafa Benitez.
There were doubts as to whether Benitez would stay at Newcastle as they embarked on life in the Championship. However, the Spaniard remined loyal to the club and helped them to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Newcastle finished top of the Championship with a total of 94 points from 46 games played. They ended the season 1 point clear of second place Brighton and 9 points clear of third place Reading.
It was a good achievement for the club who went to the top of the Championship for the first time on the 18th October and never dropped below second place for the remainder of the season. The question is, can Newcastle find similar consistency in the Premier League this season?
The last time Newcastle won promotion from the Championship was in 2009/10 and they finished top of the table that season. They enjoyed six seasons in the Premier League following that promotion and will be hoping for another long spell in the top flight.
You must go back to 2012/13 to find the last time the winner of the Championship was relegated from the Premier League the following season and that team was Cardiff City. Since then, Leicester City, Bournemouth and Burnley have all stayed up.
Newcastle are 7/2 to be relegated from the Premier League this season, with the likes of Brighton, Huddersfield and Burnley regarded as bigger contenders for the drop.
In fact, Newcastle are priced at 1/5 with the bookmakers to stay up and begin the 2018/19 season as a Premier League team. Those in charge of the odds clearly fancy Newcastle’s chances this season.
In terms of transfers, there has not been a great deal which has significantly improved the starting XI at Newcastle ahead of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign. If the squad is if of a similar standard to when they went down, what is to prevent Newcastle from dropping into the relegation zone this season?
Scoring goals could be a problem as Dwight Gayle has never really delivered the goods in the Premier League and Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic didn’t inspire much confidence two years ago. Newcastle are 16/1 to end the 2017/18 Premier League season as the lowest scoring team.
However, Newcastle’s biggest strength must be their manager. Benitez is proven to be a top manager and can steer Newcastle to safety this season. Anything in the bottom half of the Premier League table, as long as it is above the relegation zone would be a satisfactory season at St James’ Park.
Newcastle are 2/7 to finish in the bottom half.
Following Tottenham Hotspur at home on the opening day of the season, Newcastle have a run of winnable games against Huddersfield Town, West Ham United, Swansea City, Stoke City and Brighton. Win these games and Newcastle could give themselves a chance of finishing in the top half and are priced at 10/3 to pull off that unlikely event.
Home
Football 
Basketball
Hockey
American Football
Baseball
Rugby
Volleyball
Handball
Esoccer
