Newcastle United are already defying Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher’s Premier League predictions

Newcastle United are already proving pundits wrong amid their superb start to the season.

Magpies fans had big hopes for the future heading into this season amid big-money transfers and new owners, but few expected such an impressive start to the campaign. With the Premier League on pause for the World Cup, Newcastle are in third place, four points ahead of Manchester United in fifth but having played a game more.

Eddie Howe’s men are on a run of 10 straight league games without defeat, and seven of those games have been wins. People around the Premier League are now starting to take Newcastle seriously, as far as the races for Europa League and Champions League football are concerned.

Howe has good depth at his disposal, and he could add further weapons in January. Beyond that, while the traditional top six have European football to contend with, Newcastle can concentrate on the Premier League, potentially giving them an advantage in what is a very busy season due to the World Cup.

But while many are now starting to see Newcastle as serious contenders, even with more than half of the season still to play, that wasn’t the case before the campaign. Much like some of the Magpies fans themselves, pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher did not fancy the Toon’s chances of qualifying for Europe.

Asked if Newcastle will qualify for Europe this season during an Overlap fan event, both pundits simply said ‘no’.

Of course, Newcastle have not proven them wrong yet, and there is still plenty of time for Howe’s men to fade away from the top end of the table, but they are certainly on track to defy the odds. Though, it will be interesting to see if the Magpies can maintain their momentum after being sidelined for more than a month due to the ongoing World Cup.