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Newcastle are set to return to the Premier League after a long season in the Championship. This series will take a look at how the Magpies would have matched up with the teams that currently make up the Premier League.
With Tottenham already being reviewed, we move onto another team in the top half of the table in Everton.
The Toffees currently sit seventh in the Premier League, having amassed 58 points in 35 matches. Everton will be hard pressed to finish top five sitting seven points below Manchester United with just three matches to play.
It is hard to fully gauge where the Magpies would be. The likelihood is that players like Georginio Wijinaldum and Andros Townsend would not have been sold at the start of the season, but we are still going to compare the two sides assuming that Newcastle would have its current roster.
Newcastle’s defense has vastly improved from a season ago, but not to the point where it would be able to defeat Everton. My best guess is that the Magpies would be able to steal a point from their two meetings with the Toffees if they played in the Premier League this season.
That would be due in large part to the play of striker Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian international has 24 goals in Premier League play this season. He has terrorized most defenses he has faced, and with the inconsistency the Newcastle back line has shown in the Championship, I don’t think we would fare any differently.
However, Everton have also allowed 40 goals in 35 games this season. Assuming that Seamus Coleman will miss the second matchup of these two teams following his awful broken leg, the weakened Toffee defense will not be able to keep Newcastle out for an entire match. The club that has notched 84 goals in the Championship is bound to find a successful attempt on target against either Joel Robles or Maarten Stekelenberg in net.
There is also an element of inconsistency about Everton. This is a club that lost matches to Norwich, Burnley and Bournemouth in addition drawing with Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Swansea City.
Realistically, the Magpies would be lucky to even earn a draw in these two matches with the scoring capability Everton has displayed this season. I am confident enough thought to give them a point in one match, fully expected to be whacked 3-0 in the other.