THE international break provides all those involved with Newcastle United with an opportunity to take stock after the opening month of the season.

The Magpies return to action this weekend – how has their start to the campaign gone and what are the burning issues they will be looking to address in their forthcoming games?


SINCE thrashing Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the season, Newcastle have suffered three successive defeats that have left them sitting in 14th position in the table.

As a result, while Saturday’s home match with Brentford is hardly ‘must-win’, it feels like a crucial game in terms of setting the tone for the next few weeks, which will see the Magpies kick off their Champions League campaign with a trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan a week tomorrow.

Eddie Howe won’t be making any wholesale alterations in the wake of his side’s shaky start, but there will surely be a few tweaks for the Brentford game given the way in which Newcastle were repeatedly carved open in their defeat at Brighton.

Sven Botman should be fit enough to return at centre-half, which should mean Dan Burn reverting to left-back.

Sean Longstaff is an option at the heart of midfield, although that would mean having to drop one of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes or Joelinton, who have started all four matches so far.

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Further forward, Harvey Barnes is pushing for a start after coming on as a substitute in all four games, while Howe could also restore Callum Wilson to the starting line-up in place of Alexander Isak, who has not scored since the opening day.

In fairness to Newcastle, the fixture list has hardly been kind to them so far, but on paper at least, things should begin to get easier in the next month.

The Magpies’ next six league games pit them against Brentford, Sheffield United, Burnley, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Wolves – a run that is certainly much more inviting than what they have faced so far.

A key challenge, however, will be combining league duties with European matches, something Newcastle have not to worry about for more than two decades.

Howe and his players head to Italy next week, with back-to-back home games against Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund on the agenda in October.

Throw in a Carabao Cup third-round game against Manchester City, which falls between the league games against Sheffield United and Burnley at the end of this month, and the logistical challenge facing the Magpies is clear.

Battling on three different fronts should be quite an adventure – but it will also ask serious questions of Howe’s squad.