Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest's new predicted Premier League final position after seven-goal thriller

There was a wave of relief and delight that enveloped St James Park as Newcastle United claimed the narrowest of wins against European rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors had threatened to boost their own European ambitions when Callum Hudson-Odoi fired them in front with just seven minutes on the clock. The Magpies’ response was spectacular as Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy grabbed a goal apiece before top goalscorer Alexander Isak took Eddie Howe’s men three goals ahead with a penalty and a deflected effort ahead of half-time.

The vast majority of those inside St James Park failed to get the second-half performance they may have been expecting as Newcastle produced a laboured display after the restart. A lack of energy and intensity allowed Forest back into the game and Nikola Milnekovic raised their hopes over what appeared to be the most unlikely of comebacks. Nerves were set firmly on edge in injury-time when Ryan Yates further reduced the arrears for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men - but an equaliser remained out of reach and the Magpies held on for the win.

The result has taken Newcastle into fifth place in the Premier League table as they now turn their attention towards Wednesday night’s visit to leaders and title favourites Liverpool, who actually did the Magpies a favour on Sunday by claiming a 2-0 win at fourth placed Manchester City. Speaking about his side’s hopes of returning to European football’s top table, Magpies manager Howe said: "I think there’s a host of teams that will have that feeling. We’re in there fighting and I back us if we’re fighting and showing our best qualities, as we did in that first half."We’ll hopefully be there towards the end fighting and competing for that place, but nothing is guaranteed. "It’s such a competitive league this year and you can see that from our recent home games."

But with the race for the top five heating up, where are Newcastle predicted to finish in the table and can they secure a return to European football. We take a look at a table produced by the stats experts at OPTA.

Where are Newcastle United predicted to finish in this season’s Premier League?

20th: Southampton (17 points) 19th: Leicester City (26 points) 18th: Ipswich Town (27 points) 17th: Wolverhampton Wanderers (38 points) 16th: Everton (45 points) 15th: West Ham United (45 points) 14th: Man Utd (46 points) 13th: Crystal Palace (49 points) 12th: Tottenham Hotspur (50 points) 11th: Brentford (52 points) 10th: Fulham (53 points) 9th: Brighton and Hove Albion (57 points) 8th: Aston Villa (57 points) 7th: Bournemouth (61 points) 6th: Chelsea (63 points) 5th: Newcastle United (64 points) 4th: Nottingham Forest (65 points) 3rd: Manchester City (68 points) 2nd: Arsenal (78 points) 1st: Liverpool (88 points)

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