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Analyzing Newcastle’s 2019-20 EPL schedule

By Durim Halimi

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: The Premier League logo is displayed prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City and Watford at Etihad Stadium on January 2, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: The Premier League logo is displayed prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City and Watford at Etihad Stadium on January 2, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
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The Premier League officially released the schedule for the upcoming season. Newcastle United will, once again, have a difficult start to the season…

The Premier League released the schedule for the 2019-20 campaign and Newcastle United do not have much to smile about. It will be a difficult season for Newcastle United due to the fact that schedule is not as balanced as one would hope. The uncertainty over the managerial role and the lack of transparency regarding the takeover of the club will only make things more difficult as the team begins to prepare for the upcoming season in a few weeks. Before reading my analysis of the schedule, click here to view the complete list of fixtures on the club’s official website.

The Top Six

Newcastle United will have their hands full at the start of the season as five of their first ten matches will be against Arsenal (H), Tottenham (A), Liverpool (A), Manchester United (H) and Chelsea (A). The Toon will host the defending champions, Manchester City, on November 30th. Newcastle United need to earn enough points to stay up by April 11th, though, because three of their last five matches will be against Manchester City (A), Tottenham (H) and Liverpool (H). In other words, the Magpies could get caught in the fire of yet another title race between Manchester City and Liverpool at the end of the season.

Months of Hope

Despite having one of the most difficult schedules in the league, there is some room for optimism when looking at the calendar. The Magpies will have some good opportunities to gain successive points and momentum in December, February and March. During these months, Newcastle United will face all three newly-promoted sides and several mediocre, relegation-threatened teams, such as Southampton, Burnley and Crystal Palace, and they will play these teams twice over the course of two months. Newcastle United will need to claim a few doubles over these opponents.

light. Related Story. Analyzing Newcastle's pre-season schedule

Most Difficult Stretch of the Season

Opinions will vary when it comes to what should be considered as the most difficult stretch of the season, but I think it will be between December 26th and January 21st. The reason for this is that the Magpies will play six matches in a short amount of time and the opponents consist of Manchester United (A), Everton (H),  Leicester City (H), Wolverhampton (A), Chelsea (H) and Everton (A) – in that exact order. These are all teams that finished between third and ninth in the league standings last season. The Magpies will surely put up a fight, but can they cause any upsets? We shall wait and see.