Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson claims Newcastle “face an uphill battle” to finish in the top four this campaign.

Eddie Howe’s team have picked up 6 points from their opening 5 games and, writing in his column for Sportskeeda, Merson said that the Magpies need to put some wins together, starting with Sheffield United this weekend:

“In my opinion, they are already out of the title race and could face an uphill battle to secure a top-four spot if they don’t string together a run of wins.”

It’s a rather pessimistic prediction from Merson, which doesn’t take into account any mitigating factors. Newcastle have played Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton in the first month of the season, which is a very tough start compared to some of their rivals.

Chelsea, for example, are below them in the table and, with the exception of Liverpool, they have played some much easier opponents, including Luton, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are also level on points with the Magpies, and their first 5 fixtures were arguably kinder too.

Newcastle need to rediscover their best form

Even though Howe’s men have had to face some difficult opponents, there is a feeling that performances are not up to the standards of last campaign.

In their previous two games, they were not at their sharpest against Brentford and they were lucky not to lose in Milan on Tuesday evening. If they are to become top 4 contenders, improvement is needed.

The next 3 Premier League fixtures

Between now and the next international break, the Magpies have three winnable league games against Sheffield United, Burnley and West Ham.

They will be playing two newly-promoted teams, while they will take on the Hammers at the London Stadium where they won 5-1 last season. The hope will be that they can pick up some much-needed points over the next few weeks.