Newcastle United will be looking to reclaim their stake on a Champions League spot for next season as they face Wolves at St. James' Park on Sunday afternoon.
Manager Eddie Howe and his men find themselves four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham although they have two games in hand over the London club, as well as a game in hand over Liverpool in fifth.
That being said, the Magpies must first get themselves out of a terrible run of form that has seen them drop from third to sixth in recent weeks after three draws and now back-to-back losses to top four rivals.
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With that, Chronicle Live has looked at the best and worst case scenarios that could happen to the Magpies this weekend...
Best case
The best case scenario for Howe's side is first hinges on other clubs failing to win. With the Magpies hosting the final game of the weekend, all of their top four rivals around them will have the chance of slipping up first.
This would first mean Liverpool losing to bottom-of-the-league Bournemouth when they travel down to Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon before Tottenham host Nottingham Forest at 3pm.
If those two sides above Newcastle lose, the Magpies would see themselves lifted up to fifth and only one point outside of the Champions League places.
If Manchester United also drop points to Southampton on Sunday afternoon ahead of the Toon-Wolves clash, and the Magpies manage to win over Lopetegui's side, that'd cut that gap to just five points for third as well.
Worst case
Ultimately, the worst case scenario would see the gap between Newcastle and their top four rivals grow even further. A loss to Wolves would mean a gap of eight points to Spurs if they manage to beat Steve Cooper's Reds and a gap of four to Jurgen Klopp's side.
It'd also mean that third is essentially written off for the rest of the season if Erik ten Hag's were to beat Southampton as that gap would grow to 11 points.
Newcastle could also mathematically fall to ninth if Fulham, Brighton and Brentford all win their matches against Arsenal, Leeds and Everton but it'd take a lot for them to drop that much.
Fulham would simply need to win with a Newcastle loss to overtake the Magpies, but Brighton would need to win by four goals or more while the Bees would need to win by 10 goals to jump above Howe's men.
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