Newcastle United’s record against the sides outside the top six was impressive: Eddie Howe’s side lost just one of those 28 encounters, and that was in the most difficult of those games, away to seventh-placed Aston Villa.
Not even treble winners Manchester City avoided defeat to the bottom two-thirds of the league as much as Newcastle: like cross-city rivals Manchester United, they lost three of their 28 league games against the sides from seventh down, while Arsenal lost two. But there is still room for improvement in the new season if the Magpies want to get closer to the top of the tree, especially at home, where they drew with five of the bottom half – including goalless stalemates against relegated Leicester and Leeds.
That’s not the main impediment standing in United’s way, however. Their record against the rest of the top six last season was respectable, with a point per game (won two, drew four, lost four) making them the seventh best-performing side in the division on that score.
