Newcastle United picked up a valuable point when Manchester City came visiting on Saturday, coming twice from behind to hold the defending champions to a 2-2 draw.
Steve Bruce’s men are now four points and four places above the relegation zone after picking up 16 points from their opening 14 games of the Premier League campaign, and will hope to get a result when they visit Sheffield United on Thursday.
“Newcastle are very impressive away from home but lack a bit of the cutting edge. Steve Bruce has brought the passion back, and they are nicking points here and there. I think the Newcastle fans are accepting what Bruce can do with a fairly average bunch,” Nicholas said.
“He is doing a much better job than what Rafael Benitez did. They may only be four points above Southampton but they are better than where they were last season. Newcastle are hard to break down and look to counter-attack.
“Bruce is clever, he is going back to Sheffield where he will get plenty of abuse but he will have his players pumped up. If their shape is good, the counter attack will be a strong weapon for them.”
Newcastle have secured impressive results against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and City this term, and have picked up four more points than they did after 14 league games last term and one more than they did a season before.
Under Benitez, the Magpies ended last season in 13th place with 45 points, and were 10th in the table at the end of 2017-18 with 44 points.
It will be interesting to see where Newcastle finish in the table at the end of the season, but things are currently looking good given their decent start to the season.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
