Newcastle United Eddie Howe had an incredibly difficult period to deal with between the World Cup and last week.

Howe had to come up with game plans to remain undefeated through at least the Arsenal match in January, while keeping his non World Cup players conditioned. At the same time, he and his men needed time for themselves and their families. The stress levels must have been intense. Howe did all that. He kept his squad undefeated until they faced Liverpool of February 18.

Now, after notching two consecutive wins, Newcastle enter the warmer Spring months to play 11 final matches over the next 8 weeks. There will be no tears shed if Newcastle fail to finish in fifth place or higher in the EPL table.

When I sip the Newcastle United Kool-Aid, I yelp “win it out!” Just win the remaining matches! Yeah! And no team in this league, except for the top two, can pull that off in April and May.

Injuries have piled up, which we Newcastle fans won’t be updated about until Sunday April 2 when the Lads host Manchester United.

In this league, two consecutive wins can keep a team up in the table for weeks. Newcastle just did that. Now they will want to do it again. And at some point, once more. And so with that, here are my predictions for the remaining matches of the 2022-23 season:

Sunday April 2, Manchester United, Newcastle to win, 2-1

Wednesday April 5, at West Ham, Newcastle to win, 2-1

Saturday April 8, at Brentford, Newcastle to win, 2-0

Saturday April 15, at Aston Villa, Newcastle to win 1-0

Sunday April 23, Tottenham Hotspur, Draw 2-2

Tuesday April 27, at Everton, Newcastle to win 1-0

Sunday April 30, Southampton, Newcastle to win 2-0

Sunday May 7, Arsenal, Newcastle to lose 2-0

Saturday May 13, at Leeds, Draw 1-1

Saturday May 20, Leicester City, Newcastle to win 2-0

Sunday May 28, at Chelsea, Newcastle to win 2-1

Well, call me an irrational optimist. I have Newcastle going on a tear, earning 26 points over 11 matches. That would bring their points total to 73, and should firmly place them third in the table and qualifying for the Champions League this September.

Objectively, every club Newcastle are yet to face are beatable, even Arsenal. And Newcastle has a recent history of surging in the Spring. Since 2018, they have finished their seasons strong. Newcastle won 4 straight matches in March and April 2018 (before then ceasing to try and dropping the next four). In the immortal words of the now-indicted Donald J. Trump, “we’ll see what happens!”