Rafa Benitez has reacted to today’s announcement of the 2017/18 Premier League fixtures, sending a warning to Tottenham, stating his side will have ‘extra motivation’ for their opening day trip to St. James’ Park.
When speaking to the club’s official website, the Newcastle United boss had the following to say about Newcastle’s recently released Premier League fixtures:
“It’s always exciting to see the new fixtures and like the fans, it’s something we all look forward to.
“It’s a great start at home to Tottenham and a really exciting first game at St James’ Park for our fans to enjoy.
“We will all have extra motivation for that game, but it will be a very tough start too because Spurs showed how good they are last season.
“Of course they were our last Premier League opponents here too, which was a memorable match for everyone, but this time around it will be completely different.”
Rafa then commented on Newcastle’s fixtures against Huddersfield (A), West Ham (H), Swansea (A), Stoke (H) and Brighton (A) that follow the opening game against Spurs and the festive period:
“After Spurs I think then we have a good run of games and I’m pleased to see it’s quite a balanced list in terms of the teams we’re up against.
“The fans will enjoy being at home to Manchester City on Boxing Day. It is always nice for fans to enjoy games against top teams over the Christmas period.
Benitez then spoke about the visit of the Champions, Chelsea, on the final day of the season, as well as fixtures with former club Liverpool and former Championship rivals Brighton:
“We also have a great game to round off the season with Chelsea visiting us on the last day of the season.
“Aside from that, obviously I look forward to the two games with Liverpool; those days will be extra special for me, but really every game is exciting and every game has its own challenges.
“It will be nice, too, to come up against Chris Hughton and his Brighton side again this season.
“This will be Brighton’s first time in the Premier League and the way both our clubs performed in the Championship will make it a special game, I think.”
Here’s Newcastle fixtures for the 2017/18 Premier League season in full:
Bring it on!
What warning?
Ray(Quote)