There aren’t too many matches left of the 2022/23 Premier League season, and Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side are still sitting pretty in third place of the English top-flight.
It’s been a tumultuous season for the Magpies, though they seemed to have found some rhythm just at the right time of the campaign.
Despite the obvious disappointment of losing the Carabao Cup final to Manchester United, the team appear to have dusted themselves down and got on with their bread and butter in the league, and, to their credit, they’re pushing hard as they reach the business end of the season.
According to the official Premier League website, Newcastle have won the last five games on the trot, and have Aston Villa up next.
With only nine games left to go, they remain just above the Red Devils on goal difference, and if they’re able to keep up the same level of form over the next few games, they may be able to start to pull away from their more celebrated rivals.
They may also find that they’ll be handed an unexpected advantage if the officials who oversee other team’s games get a little card happy.
That’s because, as Chronicle Live report, there are a number of players that are very close to being suspended for two games if they reach their 10th yellow card of the season.
They include Brighton and Hove Albion’s Alexis Mac Allister and Liverpool’s Fabinho to name just two who, were they unable to play for their respective sides, would significantly weaken them.