A Champions League qualifying position is now within the grasp of Newcastle United.
A near perfect set of events have led to this opportunity.
It will be absolutely hilarious if Newcastle United can now do their part.
Especially when it comes to winding up all of those who are desperate to see United fail.
Whether that be journalists, pundits, rival fans, whoever…
This interminable international break at last came to an end.
What has then followed is a vivid reminder of why we love football so much.
A weekend where so much has gone the way of Newcastle United.
This sixth round of Premier League fixtures kicked off on Saturday with the following results:
Arsenal 2 Leeds 1
Villa 2 Brentford 2
Chelsea 5 Bournemouth 1
Ipswich 2 Hull 1
Sunderland 0 Brighton 2
Man U 1 Spurs 1
Then on Sunday:
Palace 3 Forest 1
Hull 2 Everton 2
Liverpool 0 Manchester City 3
Premier League table on the morning of Monday 12 October 2026
As you can see above, if Newcastle United win away at Coventry City tonight it will then mean United move into the Premier League top four and into a Champions League qualifying position!
Yes, it will be only six matches into the season, but far better to be top four on 11 points, than be down where the likes of Spurs and Sunderland are.
I am not predicting in any way that Newcastle United will stay Premier League top four and qualify for the Champions League.
At the same time though, who knows where you might end up if you make a decent start to the season and then build on that…
When you remember the turmoil at Newcastle United across the summer and indeed into the new season, plus a crippling injury list that ended up seeing nine players, many of them key experienced ones, ruled out of the Hull City match.
It sounds like we might have four or five of those injured nine players back for this Coventry City match tonight, many more options for Matthias Jaissle when it comes to his starting line up and arguably even more important is that there will be far stronger options to bring off the bench.
Whilst plenty people out there are desperate to pick holes in the incredible job Matthias Jaissle has done in near impossible early circumstances, the fact remains that for example Newcastle United are still the only team that have defeated Hull City. The Tigers mauled Man U, beat Coventry, drawn against Everton and Villa, Chelsea also very lucky to get a draw against Hull.
If Newcastle United do defeat Coventry City, why shouldn’t we dream? Surely all football fans are allowed to do so?
Last season 58 points was enough to get Champions League football via a top five Premier League finish and for the 2027/28 Champions League qualification, this season it looks all but guaranteed that the Premier League will get once again a bonus fifth place qualifying spot. If Manchester City are properly punished then maybe even top six in the Premier League could be enough!
As I say, of course it is early days, but at the same time…if Newcastle United end up with 11 points from the first six games they would need 47 more points from the final 32 games to get the 58 points that last season was enough for Premier League top five and qualifying for the Champions League. If you win half of your final 32 matches that equals 48 points.
Last season Bournemouth finished sixth in the Premier League and they only won 13 of 38 Premier League matches, all things are possible. The Cherries of course did draw (18!!) a canny few EPL games as well last season.
The fact is, get points on the board early and it gives you a great platform, whether that is towards survival or winning the league, or just maybe Champions League qualification in a 2026/27 Premier League where already it looks a case of so many clubs capable of beating almost any other on their day.
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Ep 9: Newcastle United’s new badge, Quantum leaps and Changing history
Listen to the latest episode of The Mag Pod! Join Jamie, Simon, and Hutch for their quality unfiltered Newcastle United debate.
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