Let’s face, compared to Norwich and Sunderland, Newcastle United has the easiest path to safety in the Premier League. Their toughest match in the coming weeks? Tottenham. But with matches against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa coming up, Newcastle United can garner themselves an easy six points, or at the least, four.
Aston Villa is guaranteed relegation, and have nothing else to play for. The club itself is in shambles, and Newcastle United should take advantage of that. Crystal Palace in a low spot themselves, struggling to remain in form, and Alan Pardew facing tough questions following his handling of Jonas Gutierrez’s position following his diagnosis of testicular cancer.
The battle for safety is tight. With both Sunderland and Norwich sitting at an uneasy 31 points, Newcastle United is close behind them with 30. Two wins will bring the club up to 36 points, and taking a look at Norwich and Sunderland’s schedules moving forward, Newcastle’s path to safety is less of an uphill battle than theirs.
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Norwich:
Norwich does have four games left (at the time of publishing) and could possibly garner enough points guarantee safety. But with matches against Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, and Watford coming up, respectively, their path to safety is shaky. Both Arsenal and Manchester United may not have anything left to play for, and Norwich could use that to their advantage. However, relegation looms over their heads after coming off of two losses recently against both Crystal Palace and Sunderland. Both clubs reaped a clean sheet from the canaries.
Just because they’re facing clubs that are just hoping the season would end doesn’t mean they’ll take easy wins from them.
Sunderland:
Sunderland also have four games remaining, and play Stoke in their next match. Stoke is coming off of a huge defeat at the hands of Manchester City which could give Sunderland the upper hand in their encounter. However, Sunderland’s schedule isn’t an easy one. They face off against Chelsea, Everton, and Watford.
Yes, Everton and Watford can say that they hold the keys to safety.
While Chelsea has had an abysmal season which resulted in legendary manager Jose Mourinho getting fired, that doesn’t mean they still aren’t fighting for their pride. For a club that won the Premier League last season to being mid-table and having a mediocre season, it’s like Leicester City but backwards.
Verdict:
While both Norwich and Sunderland each have a game to extend their point lead over Newcastle United, their final games are all against mid-table or top of the table clubs. And while those clubs are no longer fighting for the title or European football, selections have yet to be made for Euro 2016.
Each player at Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal are going to fight to prove that they have what it takes to play in Euro. And the fact that Newcastle United doesn’t have to deal with that, except against Tottenham, it makes their path to safety a much more simple one than Sunderland or Norwich’s.
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Perhaps it’s wishful thinking. But one thing is for sure, and that is Newcastle United isn’t going up against major challenges. And when they did, they persevered. The draw against Manchester City was one of the greatest performances this season. The draw against Liverpool, while an upsetting one, could have been a loss had it not been for Benitez jumping on the issue and fixing it.
Newcastle United have the tools, the manager, and the schedule to succeed and gain safety. I’m not sure I can say the same about Norwich or Sunderland.