With just a week of the Premier League season remaining, it is time for some honest reflection: the standard at the top may not be high, but the level beneath that – from sixth all the way down to 18th – has never been higher anywhere.
For proof, we need only look at West Ham. It is arguable that, whether the final relegation slot is filled by them or Tottenham, currently two points ahead, no better side will ever have gone down. Matheus Fernandes and Jarrod Bowen are top players; Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos are more than useful; and a good number of others are well up to playing top-division football.
Nor is West Ham's form that of a relegation outfit. In each of the last nine seasons, 36 points has been enough to stay up, but they have that with two games to go – as well as two wins and a draw in their last five. Of course, they are being punished now for dreadful form in the early part of the season, especially under Graham Potter, and also for the tremendous behaviour of Sunderland and Leeds, two promoted clubs. But even so, there is no way whatsoever they should be where they are, needing at least one win in their last two games to preserve their status, with even two potentially insufficient.
If they could get the big win tonight, though, they would put serious pressure on Spurs, who travel to Chelsea on Tuesday and host Everton on the final day. And one victory in six, along with seven home defeats, tell us Newcastle are beatable, the physicality which underpins their best play less pronounced this season and the contribution of Alexander Isak not adequately replaced.
So, though trips to St James' Park are never easy, given the way things have gone for Newcastle this term and the nothing for which they have to play, it is actually one of the better options for a side desperately seeking a result. But Eddie Howe's men will not want the shame of another set of players cavorting on their pitch, just as their support will not want the away contingent leaving with happy vibes, so it is eyes down for an absolutely tussle that might just be the highest-level 13th versus 18th we have ever seen; this is absolutely gargantuan.
Kick-off: 5.30pm BST
