It’s 2023 and club football is back with a bang! Newcastle United and Arsenal have underlined their Premier League title credentials with a series of impressive performances, while in LaLiga one of the Qatar World Cup‘s most infamous characters was back in the spotlight again.
ESPN correspondents Julien Laurens, James Tyler, Mark Ogden and Sam Marsden break down the big stuff you need to know about the weekend.
Newcastle fell short of winning seven successive Premier League games for the first time since 1996 with Leeds United holding Eddie Howe’s team to a 0-0 draw at St James’ Park on Saturday, but the result was only a minor glitch at the end of an incredible year for the club.
On Jan 1, 2022, Newcastle were second bottom of the Premier League with 11 points — and just one win — from 19 games, but a year on, they sit in third position and now harbour genuine hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, 19 years after last playing in the competition.
Newcastle’s resurgence under Howe is perhaps best illustrated by the calendar year table for the Premier League in 2022. They collected 72 points from 36 games, with only Manchester City (79), Liverpool and Arsenal (both 77) amassing more points between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.
To go from relegation candidates to Champions League chasers in such a short space of time isn’t unique — Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016 after narrowly avoiding relegation in 2015 — but Newcastle’s turnaround has been beyond all expectations.
The investment from the club’s new Saudi Arabia-backed owners has clearly made a difference, but Newcastle have not benefited from the kind of instant financial transformation enjoyed by Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea or Man City following Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008.
Newcastle’s improvement has largely been down to Howe making under-performing players realise their potential, but they must now keep it going and 2023 couldn’t start much tougher than Tuesday’s visit to Arsenal. — Ogden