Palace come to town on Saturday and this is where the escape act simply has to start for Newcastle United. After last week’s hard graft at Anfield, to salvage, a 2-2 draw showed the character and belief that Rafa has installed on this side. A fightback that never would have happened under the long gone Steve McClaren. With just three games left, though, we need a return of at least seven, preferably nine points, to put the pressure right on Sunderland. The media have tried to predict what’s going to happen but there’s sure to be another twist yet. Many have written off Norwich predicting a race between Newcastle and Sunderland, with many swaying towards the Mackems through their extra game in hand and the ‘Big Sam’ effect being enough to keep them up.
Yet Norwich won’t be going down with a whimper, and currently, they still remain ahead of us. It’s imperative that we climb above them, though, with our very winnable game at home to Palace prior to the Canaries’ trip to Arsenal in the Saturday tea-time kick off. A further complication is both Sunderland and Norwich having their extra game in hand, which doesn’t take place until the final midweek slot of the season. So here are the three respective run-ins.
Sunderland
- Stoke (a) – Saturday 30th April 15:00
- Chelsea (h) – Saturday 7th May 15:00
- Everton (h) – Wednesday 11th May 19:45
- Watford (a) – Sunday 15th May 15:00
Norwich
- Arsenal (a) – Saturday 30th April 17:30
- Man United (h) – Saturday 7th May 12:45
- Watford (h) – Wednesday 11th May 19:45
- Everton (a) – Sunday 15th May 15:00
Newcastle
- Crystal Palace (h) – Saturday 30th April 15:00
- Aston Villa (a) – Saturday 7th May 15:00
- Tottenham (h) – Sunday 15th May 15:00
For all three teams, their fixtures present them something to get their teeth into. But for us, it’s critical that we win our game and hope both Sunderland and Norwich stumble in their rather difficult looking fixtures this week. Especially knowing that both Sunderland and Norwich will then have back to back home games, with one of the two being their in-hand games on Newcastle. Their games with Man United and Chelsea give us some hope, although both of these bigger clubs have often underperformed on the road. Then it’s a case of Everton and Watford for Norwich and Sunderland, two clubs who have nothing to play for, managers potentially staring at the exit door and their sides on dreadful form. Typical. Luckily both have away trips to Everton and Watford on the final day which should mean that the Toffees and Hornets put on a more hearty display in front of their own fans.
Meanwhile, for us, it’s a very simple case of putting the pressure on. Palace, Villa and hopefully a nothing to play for Tottenham side missing Delle Alli. I would have to say we need at least seven points, but even that may not be enough. You’d like to think a maximum return of nine points asks the question of Sunderland. But now it’s critical that for every minute of the 270 minutes left of our season, we come out of the blocks firing and give it absolutely everything we’ve got.
Fans, pundits, reporters, and ex-players have all tried to guess who’s going to beat the drop. But really, it’s a lottery.
For those who have to watch it unfold, it’s squeaky bum time…
