If you looked at the Premier League table and see Newcastle United sitting in third, unbeaten in their past four matches, you could be forgiven for assuming the Magpies have been at their free-flowing best at the start of 2024-25.
That hasn’t quite been the case, but the resilience that was present in the 2022-23 season, when Eddie Howe’s side finished fourth in the table, has returned.
The goals are yet to start flowing but Newcastle are simply finding ways to win. That could be worth its weight in gold come the end of the season, but fans will be keen for things to start clicking sooner rather than later.
Craven Cottage is the destination for Howe’s men on Saturday, for a 15:00 BST kick-off against a Fulham side who, like themselves, haven’t blown teams away but fight for every ball.
The start of the win at Wolves last weekend was more like the Newcastle that fans have come to know and love and, after Fabian Schar’s equaliser rejuvenated the Magpies, it was more of the same.
That part in the middle, though, was less than ideal.
Howe has called for consistency and Saturday could be the match when everything flows for Newcastle from minute one to minute 90.
Sandro Tonali’s return greatly helped that performance, as did the introduction of similarly energetic midfielder Joe Willock, and both could stake a claim for a start in the capital.
Harvey Barnes was the scorer of the wonderful winner and equally could be in the line-up at Craven Cottage.
Newcastle have threatened to put in devastating performances like the high-scoring matches of last season in the first four of this campaign, but will Saturday be the day that happens?
What is for sure, though, is 10 points on the board from four matches and the opportunity to go top of the table on Saturday (before Manchester City and Arsenal play on Sunday) is beyond the expectations even the most optimistic Geordies will have had at the start of the campaign.