Newcastle fans here in the bar at the Football Transfer Tavern are buzzing for the start of the Premier League.

Rafael Benitez’s successful campaign in the Championship saw the Magpies experience a comfortable route back up to the Premier League and our landlord has touted the Magpies as the most likely of the promoted sides to stay up this season.

Alongside this, having a manager of Benitez’s pedigree at the helm has helped quash the talk in the Tavern that Newcastle could be relegated this season.

Benitez is also the perfect manager to build a squad fit for the Premier League and our landlord certainly believes that the visit of Tottenham Hotspur will be a welcome change to last season, and it will be a real test for the Magpies to face a side with real Premier League pedigree.

Our resident Geordies agree and they really are looking forward to playing a side such as Spurs, and our landlord has outlined TWO reasons why Newcastle may well give Spurs a shock in the first Premier League game of the season.

Let’s take a look at our landlord’s thoughts…

Benitez already has the edge on Spurs

Newcastle’s last game in the Premier League saw a much-changed Magpies side destroy Spurs 5-1 at St. James’ Park.

Georginio Wijnaldum scored a brace with contributions from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat completing the rout and, with Spurs coming back to Tyneside for the first time since that defeat, there will be memories of that bashing in the back of the minds of Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

Our landlord has advised Benitez to remind his players of that result and use it as a catalyst to prove that they have absolutely nothing to lose this season.

Newcastle need to prove they belong

There is no doubt that Newcastle will be looking to prove they belong in this tier of football but there are also numerous players that our landlord believe need to prove themselves this season.

Jonjo Shelvey and Dwight Gayle are names that spring to mind and whilst these two players are big individuals in the Newcastle camp, their fans are looking for them to go one better and take the Premier League by the scruff of the neck this season.

Both players have had spells before in the Premier League with Gayle previously at Crystal Palace and Shelvey having spells with Liverpool and Swansea and, whilst they have shown glimpses of quality, it remains to be seen whether they can produce good performances on a consistent basis.

With their desire to do so higher than ever, Spurs could be on the end of strong performances from these two come the opening day of the season.