Gary Neville makes surprising Newcastle United U-turn and delivers damning Man Utd verdict

Gary Neville has made a dramatic u-turn on his pre-season prediction that saw Newcastle United missing out on Champions League football. The Magpies are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions and won three of their four league games in between international breaks.

Neville now sees Newcastle as a contender for a top five finish, however, believing it is between them and Chelsea for a fifth place finish. Speaking on the Gary Neville podcast, he said: "I think I said Aston Villa at the start of the season, so I will stick with them. Newcastle, it would not surprise me if it was them.

"Chelsea or Newcastle for me would be the fifth team at the moment. [Manchester] United, Villa, West Ham and Brighton will just miss out. 

“If I was rewriting history from my predictions a couple of weeks ago, I’d still say Arsenal, then City, then Liverpool, then Tottenham and then Chelsea or Newcastle in that fifth place at the moment. If I am going off what I have seen in the first eight to ten weeks, [Manchester] United are a lot worse than I thought they were, Tottenham are a lot better than I thought they were, Liverpool are better than I thought they would be."

Newcastle host Crystal Palace after the international break before they welcome Borussia Dortmund to St James’ Park in their third group stage game. A win against the Eagles on Saturday, October 21 could move Newcastle, at least temporarily, into 5th place in the Premier League.