Opta Predicts Newcastle’s Final EPL Position After Chelsea Win

Newcastle United have taken a massive step towards sealing Champions League qualification with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea.

At a sun-baked St James’ Park, the Magpies were quick out of the traps and took the lead inside two minutes when Sandro Tonali converted Jacob Murphy’s cross. Chelsea were then reduced to 10 men in the 35th minute when Nicolas Jackson was shown a red card for an elbow on Sven Botman.

But the second half was far from straightforward. Nick Pope came up with two huge saves to deny Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez before Bruno Guimaraes made sure on the victory in the first minutes of stoppage time.

The win moved Newcastle up to third in the Premier League on 66 points, a point ahead of Manchester City in fourth, three ahead of Chelsea and Aston Villa in fifth and sixth, respectively, and four ahead of seventh place Nottingham Forest.

Eddie Howe’s side now only require one win from their remaining two games away to Arsenal and at home to Everton to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League.

Are Newcastle being backed to see out the job? And if so, where inside the top five will this finish? If United win at Arsenal next Sunday, they’ll move up to third in the Premier League.

In a world where statistics dominate the football agenda, British gurus Opta emerged as the leading stat geeks in an increasingly crowded field. An official Premier League partnership – as well as the internet explosion – saw them become a trusted source for everything you never needed to know about the beautiful game.

Newcastleworld.com