After retaining our Premier League status last season, the Newcastle support were eagerly awaiting the release of the fixtures, this morning, for the forthcoming 2018 / 2019 season.
As is always the case at this time of the year, hopes are high that this could very well be our season, optimism gone wild the neutrals might say.
But, if Rafael Benitez was hoping that his side could get off to a dream start, then the fixture computer has thrown its own obstacle in our way.
In our first six games of the 2018 / 2019 season, we face four of the so-called big-six clubs, with those first six fixtures reading as thus:
• Spurs (h)
• Cardiff (a)
• Chelsea (h)
• Manchester City (a)
• Arsenal (h)
• Crystal Palace (a)
I doubt if another club has been given the task of starting the season with their first three home games being against the clubs of the magnitude of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal whilst also having to travel to take on the reigning Premier League title holders, Manchester City as their second away trip of the season.
As for the other two games in the aforementioned opening six games, the trip to take on Cardiff City may be rewarding for the side as could the trip to South London to take on Crystal Palace.
But, and here’s the crux of the article, how many points do you, the Vital Newcastle readership, believe Newcastle will have accumulated after those first six games of the season?
Please feel free to offer your opinion in the comments facility beneath this article.