Newcastle United's fine run of form shows no sign of slowing with just two games remaining before the World Cup break. Eddie Howe last week suggested he was fine with the incoming Premier League hiatus but Magpies supporters are cursing the winter tournament disrupting arguably the club's best run of form in many years.
Newcastle's 4-1 win over Southampton sent them up to third in the table with Tottenham losing to Liverpool later in the evening. There is a huge belief that top four, or at least European qualification, is now firmly on the cards this term.
Next up is Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup - a competition Howe has already promised to take serious this year. Wednesday's clash is the perfect time to give a select few senior players a rest after a busy period.
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Luckily, the Newcastle boss has a host of fringe players itching to impress when given the chance. The likes of Allan Saint-Maximin and Jonjo Shelvey will be pushing to start after recently recovering from injury.
Meanwhile, Chris Wood is openly telling Howe he wants a starting place in midweek after ending his goal drought at Southampton on Sunday. “I want to keep my run going,” he said.
“I’ll be looking to start on Wednesday and hopefully continue. It’s a chance for a lot of us boys that haven’t played a lot of minutes to show our stuff and hopefully put an impression in the gaffer’s mind to know when we’re called upon we’re ready.”
Once Crystal Palace is out the way, there is the small task of top six rival Chelsea at St James' Park. The Blues are still trying to find their feet under Graham Potter and were lacklustre during the defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
"We huffed and puffed I thought, but I think you could see the difference between the two teams in terms of confidence, in terms of points they’ve got, in terms of their structure and work together," Potter said after his side lost 1-0 to the table-topping Gunners. "We’re not in a fantastic moment as we speak and in the end, as much as it’s not nice to say, I think Arsenal deserved to win the game and were the better team overall. We have to take that and use it as motivation to improve.”
Even if Chelsea were in a 'fantastic moment', they will still need a huge performance to beat this Newcastle side who have only been punished by a 98th-minute Liverpool winner at Anfield so far this season. Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and high-flying Brighton have all failed to take all three points from the Magpies.
Howe has instilled a tremendous fighting spirit in his group, with players now entering the field knowing full well they can match any team in the division. The squad now have the added motivation of potentially moving nine points clear of European regulars Chelsea with a win next weekend.
"I think there's loads of improvement - I have to say that. If I'm sat here going, 'That's us', the only way from there is down," Howe said recently. "The only way for me to look at any team in any moment is the only way is up. We have more to drive from the players, we've got lots of improvement left in individuals and the team collectively."
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