Newcastle United had not even played a match under their new owners in October of 2021 when Amanda Stavely declared that they had a desire to win the Premier League title with Newcastle. At that time, we were winless and sitting in the bottom three, which is where we would stay until February, so to say that she was laughed at would be a bit of an understatement. Now, we know that we are not going to be challenging City for the EPL title this season, but things are looking up for us now, and in this article we are going to look at how far we can go in the 2022/23 season.
Europe is Certainly an Achievable Goal
From the date of our takeover until the end of the 2022/23 season, we earned a total of 46 points, which only five other teams could better. Then, in 2022, we have earned ourselves a total of 38 points, which only three other teams can better, and we have averaged 2 points per game in 2022, which only two other teams can better.
So, this is actually close to Champions League form and if we can maintain this type of form throughout the 2022/23 Premier League season, then it would be really surprising if we were not back in European football next season for the first time in a decade.
Now, while the players at the club such as Sven Botman and Bruno Guimaraes have been mentioning the possibility of qualifying for the Champions League at the end of the season, we are not that optimistic, and think that the best that we can hope for is a Top Six finish and a place in the Europa League, which would still be a great achievement. Two of the four Champions League slots will be taken by Manchester City and Liverpool, while the remaining two spots will be filled by two out of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Spurs.
This means that we will be battling the likes of Manchester United, West Ham, Aston Villa, Wolves, and Leicester for the final spot in the Europa League – one of Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal will end up finishing 5th. Now, we all know how bad United have been as of late, but they are rumoured to be close to signing Casemiro from Real Madrid, which could be a bit of a game changer. We do not expect United, with the talent at their disposal to be this poor forever, so we would actually back to get 7th spot.
All is Not Lost With 7th Spot
The bookies such as Betiton Sport have us to finish in 7th place, and we think that this is a fair prediction. We truly do believe that we have a better squad than the likes of Aston Villa, Leicester, West Ham, and Wolves, so to finish anything lower than 7th would probably end up being a bit of a disappointment for us.
Seventh place would still complete the Magpies’ turnaround because it would mean that we have qualified for the Europa Conference League, which would still mean that we are back in Europe for the first time since 2013. Many football fans call the Conference a farmer’s league, but Jose Mourinho and his Roma squad seemed more than happy to lift the title last season. Besides, if we went on to win it, we would automatically qualify for the next Europa League competition.
Even if it is not that high quality a league due to some of the team that partake in it, we really do not have the right to turn our noses up at it after having been out of European competition for so long.
Our Defence is Now Our Strong Point
Our evolution to this stage has centred around our defensive improvement. In 2021, we shipped a staggering 80 goals which was a record number of goals conceded in a calendar year. The last time that a top-flight side conceded over 80 goals was when West Brom shipped 87 back in 1985.
It was this shocking stat that prompted plenty of doubt over Howes ability to turn things around on Tyneside, especially considering the fact that his Bournemouth side conceded 60 goals each season under his management. However, in 2022, there are only four teams that have conceded fewer goals than us, which is 20, and only three teams have kept more than our nine clean sheets.
Three of the five players that we signed back in January were defenders, while we added Nick Pope and Botman this summer. In the pre-season and the start of the 2022/23 EPL season, the focus has been on keeping possession and this is something that is going to ease a lot of pressure off of our back line. It is great to have a defense that we can trust once again.
However, we do have slight concerns at the other end of the field. Howe has openly mentioned the need to bring in some offensive players, with James Maddison being one that might come to Tyneside before the summer transfer window has finished. We rely too much on Allan Saint-Maximin, who created 50 chances last season, which was just two more than Maddison, but a staggering 21 more than his closest team-mate, which was Joelinton.
Creating chances is all well and good, but they need to be finished, which is why it is vital that Callum Wilson stays fit. He has netter 20 goals from 84 shots in the last two seasons, which gives him a conversion rate of 23.8% – which can only be bettered by Son Heung-min of Tottenham. However, every Newcastle fan knows how brittle Wilson can be, so it might be a good idea to get in some significant reinforcement before the transfer window slams shut. Yes, we know that there is Chris Wood, but we really do not think that he is good enough for a side that has European aspirations.
Our Final 2022/23 EPL Prediction
Our 2022/2023 season has got off to a great start with a comfortable win over Nottingham Forest and a hard-fought draw away to a talented Brighton and Hove Albion. We have been impressed by what we have seen so far and cannot wait to see how we fare against the bigger teams in the league. Overall, though, we think that we have the squad to finish in at least 7th place this season and qualify for Europe for the first time in a decade. If we get a couple of more signings through the door such as Maddison, then there could even be a chance of landing a Europa League spot instead.
While our final 2022/23 EPL position is something that we are going to just have to wait and see, what is guaranteed is that this is going to be one of the best seasons that us Geordies have experienced in a long time. Bring it on!