Newcastle United ‘difficult’ Premier League start compared to Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal & Co.

Newcastle open the Premier League season at home to Aston Villa on Saturday (5:30pm kick-off). Villa finished seventh last season and were one of only four teams to beat The Magpies in the league in 2022-23 with a 3-0 win in the previous competitive meeting between the sides back in April.

After facing Aston Villa, Newcastle then travel to face last season’s Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winners Manchester City. United have never won a league match at the Etihad Stadium, losing each of their last 14 visits.

On August 26, Eddie Howe’s side host Liverpool at St James’ Park. Jurgen Klopp’s side were the only team to beat Newcastle home and away last season but were still pipped to a top four finish by The Magpies.

Newcastle then travel to face Brighton & Hove Albion, who finished sixth last season before hosting Brentford, who ended the campaign in ninth.

Newcastle’s first five Premier League games sees them face four teams who qualified for Europe, three of the four teams who beat them in the league last season and five top 10 Premier League sides.

The club’s opening five games has been deemed the ‘most difficult’ start of any Premier League side this coming season, based on Opta data.

The Opta Power Rankings rank every team in world football from best to worst.

Newcastle’s second opponents Man City are currently ranked first in the world, while Liverpool sit third. The Magpies are the 13th best team in the world according to Opta’s rankings while Brighton are 20th, Villa are 23rd and Brentford are 24th.

Here are the Premier League opening five fixtures based on ‘most difficult’ to ‘least difficult’ according to Opta rankings.

1. Newcastle United - Aston Villa (H), Man City (A), Liverpool (H), Brighton (A), Brentford (H)

2. Bournemouth - West Ham (H), Liverpool (A), Spurs (H), Brentford (A), Chelsea (H)

3. Wolverhampton Wanderers - Man United (A), Brighton (H), Everton (A), Crystal Palace (A), Liverpool (H)

4. Manchester United - Wolves (H), Spurs (A), Forest (H), Arsenal (A), Brighton (H)

5. Crystal Palace - Sheffield United (A), Arsenal (H), Brentford (A), Wolves (H), Aston Villa (H)

6. Luton Town - Brighton (A), Burnley (H), Chelsea (A), West Ham (H), Fulham (A)

7. Brighton - Luton (H), Wolves (A), West Ham (H), Newcastle (H), Man United (A)

8. Liverpool - Chelsea (A), Bournemouth (H), Newcastle (A), Aston Villa (H), Wolves (A)

9. Fulham - Everton (A), Brentford (H), Arsenal (A), Man City (A), Luton (H)

10. Nottingham Forest - Arsenal (A), Sheffield United (H), Man United (A), Chelsea (A), Burnley (H)

11. Aston Villa - Newcastle (A), Everton (H), Burnley (A), Liverpool (A), Crystal Palace (H)

12. Everton - Fulham (H), Aston Villa (A), Wolves (H), Sheffield United (A), Arsenal (A)

13. Brentford - Spurs (H), Fulham (A), Crystal Palace (H), Bournemouth (H), Newcastle (A)

14. Sheffield United - Crystal Palace (H), Forest (A), Man City (H), Everton (H), Spurs (A)

15. Burnley - Man City (H), Luton (A), Aston Villa (H), Spurs (H), Forest (A)

16. West Ham United - Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H), Brighton (A), Luton (A), Man City (H)

17. Arsenal - Forest (H), Crystal Palace (A), Fulham (H), Man United (H), Everton (A)

18. Manchester City - Burnley (A), Newcastle (H), Sheffield United (A), Fulham (H), West Ham (A)

19. Tottenham Hotspur - Brentford (A), Man United (H), Bournemouth (A), Burnley (A), Sheffield United (H)

20. Chelsea - Liverpool (H), West Ham (A), Luton (H), Forest (H), Bournemouth (A)