Paullow

You'd be fuming if you had Martinez top goalscorer

It's been an enjoyable day of football. Attendances might not be full, and often exaggerated, but once the action gets going, they just feel like normal matches. On a selfish note, as an armchair fan, I'd far rather it was here and matches at convenient times than somewhere where they would be played during the early hours. 4 matches tomorrow.

It should be pronounced as it looks, but as a Tynedale lad, I'm so used to calling it Belling-jum (after the North Tyne village), so takes some getting used to

When would the last time Newcastle had two players on the pitch for England at the same time?

Poor Callum.

Must admit, I can't wait for this to start now. A more traditional, bigger, less controversial location would have obviously been preferable, but once the matches start, I'm sure it will just feel like a normal tournament, and while I do have most of the paywall channels, it's great that there'll be so much live football on normal TV. In fact, selfishly, while I'm sure somewhere like Australia could do a great job hosting this, and would be a better experience for those attending, as an armchair fan, I'd actually probably prefer this to be in Qatar with matches at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm UK than like 12am, 3am, 6am, 9am, in the same way I'd much rather Fury vs Usyk happened in Saudi than Las Vegas (if it couldn't be in the UK). I've never had an issue watching big events in the Middle East on TV, long before our takeover, so won't be having them now. Hopefully the conditions / temperature etc. won't have too much impact on the football on display. The players blatantly want to be play, all those Brazilian selection videos, recent Maddison and Wilson interviews etc. players potentially saving themselves over the weekend, so they will be treating it as a normal tournament, and after a few days, I'd imagine pretty much all the ITV/BBC build up will be focussing on the actual football. I'm starting to watch a lot more build up shows (that focus on the football) so am definitely getting the bug now.

VERY surprising. You'd just naturally think they'd have figures in line with Man Utd and Man City - should be a big bonus for them.

Na, I purposely left him out because then I'd have to include the likes of Hannibal, Alex Telles and loads of other on loan players who currently aren't too relevant to their parent club, plus he isn't officially our player yet. It was mainly just to show how many current players other teams are losing and the impact it might have on their respective clubs. He will definitely be an added interest to Newcastle fans though, and will be great to see him feature against the likes of France.

I wonder if Eddie's high flying, free scoring, expectation surpassing Mags were brought up?

Arsenal (10) - Jesus (BRA), Martinelli (BRA), Partey (GHA), Ramsdale, Saka, Saliba (FRA), Tomiyasu (JAP), Turner (USA), White, Xhaka (SWI) Aston Villa (4) - Bednarek (POL), Cash (POL), Dendencker (BELG), Martinez (ARG), Bournemouth (2) - Mepham (WAL), Moore (WAL) Brentford (6) - Damsgaard (DEN), Ghoddos (IRA), Jensen (DEN), Mbuemo (CAM), Norgaard (DEN), Raya (SPA) Brighton (5) - Lamptey (GHA), Mac Allister (ARG), Mitoma (JAP), Sanchez (SPA), Trossard (BEL), Chelsea (12)- Azpilicueta (SPA), Gallagher, Havertz (GER), Koulibaly (SEN), Kovacic (CRO), Mendy (SEN), Mount, Pulisic (USA), Silva (BRA), Sterling, Zakaria (SWI), Ziyech (MOR) Crystal Palace (2) - Andersen (DEN), Ayew (GHA) Everton (4) - Coady, Onana (BEL), Gueye (SEN), Pickford, Fulham (6) - James (WAL), Mitrovic (SER), Palhinha (POR), Ream (USA), Robinson (USA), Wilson (WAL) Leeds (3) - Adams (USA), Aaronson (USA), Kristensen (DEN) Leicester (7) - Amartey (GHA), Castagne (BEL) Faes (BEL), Maddison, Mendy (SEN), Tielemans (BEL), Ward (WAL) Liverpool (7) - Alexander-Arnold, Alisson (BRA), Fabinho (BRA), Konate (FRA), Henderson, Nunez (URU), Van Dijk (NED) Man City (16) - Akanji (SWI), Ake (NED), Alvarez (Arg), Cancelo (POR), De Bruyne (BEL), Dias (POR), Ederson (BRA), Foden, Grealish, Gundogan (GER), Laporte (SPA), Phillips, Rodri (SPA), Silva (POR), Stones, Walker Man Utd (14) - Antony (BRA), Casemiro (BRA), Dalot (POR), Eriksen (DEN), Fernandes (POR) Fred (BRA), Malacia (NED), Maguire, Martinez (Arg), Pellistri (URU), Rashford, Ronaldo (POR), Shaw, Varane (FRA) Newcastle (5) - Guimaraes (BRA), Pope, Schaar (SWI), Trippier, Wilson Nottingham Forest (5) - Freuler (SWI), Hennessey (WAL), Johnson (WAL), Kouyate (SEN), Williams (WAL) Southampton (2) - Bella-Kotchap (GER), Salisu (GHA) Tottenham (11) - Bentancur (URU), Davies (WAL), Dier, Hojbjerg (DEN), Kane, Lloris (FRA), Perisic (CRO), Richarlison (BRA), Romero (ARG), Sarr (SEN), Son (KOR), West Ham (5) - Aguerd (MOR), Areola (FRA), Kehrer (GER), Paqueta (BRA), Rice, Wolves (5) - Hwang (KOR), Jimenez (MEX), Neves (POR), Nunes (POR), Sa (POR)

Just noticed this separate section . I'm definitely in full on World Cup mode now like. I'll be binging on so many preview and magazine type shows this coming week at work. It would have been better in a bigger country, a more traditional football one, and one less controversial, for a better fan experience for those attending, but as long as the matches are shown on TV, at a convenient time, and there's good football and footballers on display, and the added bonus of NUFC interest, then that's enough for me. It's going to be fantastic just sitting back and watching two, three, maybe even four matches a day, especially when current interest in general football is through the roof, like I'm sure it will be for most Newcastle fans. Wales vs USA a week tomorrow (7pm) already looks an absolutely massive match in the context of the group.

It wouldn't have made any difference but it was 92:05 when the ball went in the net and Onomah came on as a sub after 91:00, so should have been at least a full extra minute.

Shite

Just the seven yellow cards for Villa

Brighton have been off a bit, especially after scoring so early, but it's been a good away performance from Villa. Nothing amazing, but just solid and committed, staying in the game, and taking their (very few) chances when they arrived. Decent away effort.

8 minutes to be added.

He's right as well. It's just like watching us trying to hang on to a big statement win.

Shades of us. Love it

Magedia, marra.

If Brighton win then they are 6 behind with a game in hand. Villa will still be 12 behind if they win having played the same amount. No brainer to want them to win if there had to be a winner. Still prefer a draw mind. I don't mind Villa as much now that we've got our shit together. They will no bother now they have a good manager and should be looking to finish around 10th this season, but I would rather they stayed up. My mindset has changed now that we're not also-rans making up the numbers, so I would want as many traditional sides in the PL as possible. That obviously won't be shared by many on here. Still wouldn't mind Everton dropping this season though

My preferred preference would be draw-Villa-Brighton, and obviously far less chance of the least desired result happening with that goal.

Get in Villa!

Howe: Up for the cup Bruce: Roll wor sleeves up

1 win in 13 league matches for the big man this season, in the relegation zone, sacked. Subsequently win 4 of the next 7, 3 from 4 under the new man, and 3 in a row. Absolute fraud.

Obviously momentum could be halted when we come back, but at least we ended on such a huge win to put us 9 clear of a direct European rival, and far better than losing like say how we lost at Stamford Bridge last season and stewing on the result for 6 whole weeks. General football is so much better when your side is doing well, random other matches become so much more appealing and we've got a World Cup (the pinnacle to many) just around the corner, often 4 live matches per day (all on BBC / ITV), 5 or 6 of our players involved, 3 for the country where Newcastle is based, a lot to look forward to, and we can all be rest assured that wor Ed will be working very hard behind the scenes to make sure we hit the ground running as best as we can once we resume. I've followed this club since around 1994 and can honestly say I've never been as invested or interested as I am at the moment. I can't get enough.