The Magpies remain favourites for the title despite Brighton’s superb form.
Newcastle United might be blessed by the best squad in the division, a Champions League winning coach and one of the most atmospheric stadiums in English football but, as it stands, their lead at the top of the second tier table is precarious at best.
Brighton, led by harshly-dismissed former Magpies manager Chris Hughton, are just one point behind, their penchant for grinding out results breathing life into a title race that looked a foregone conclusion a few months ago.
And, with a quarter of the campaign to go, The Seagulls appear to have one major advantage over the pre-season favourites. Whereas Newcastle have lost on home soil to Wolves, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn and Huddersfield, Brighton have won all but four of their league fixtures at the Amex.
In fact, its five months since Hughton’s high-flyers picked up anything less than a draw in their own backyard, meaning they have accumulated two more points than any other Championship team in home fixtures this season.
If the table was dependent only upon home results, however, Newcastle would be down in seventh, three points adrift of the play-offs.
And, from now until the end of the season, The Magpies will welcome Fulham (below), Leeds, Preston and Barnsley to St James’ Park, four fixtures which most definitely stray into banana skin territory.
They may have the best away record in the league but, with less than three months of the season left, they could do with keeping the shock St James’s losses to a minimum.
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