Newcastle United have been attempting to reel in expectations since their controversial owners arrived in the Premier League last October promising glory at home and in Europe within five to 10 years.
Head coach Eddie Howe has repeatedly refused to reveal a target for this season, while he spent the past week attempting to clarify comments on Newcastle's ambitions.
"Long term, the club have huge plans and huge ambitions," Howe said after Jurgen Klopp congratulated Newcastle for having "no ceiling". "But at the moment, the reality of what we're working towards and working with, there is a ceiling."
Antonio Conte seemingly disagreed with Howe's assessment ahead of the Magpies' visit to Tottenham on Sunday, however.
"You have to consider Newcastle for the present and for the future as a danger, as a dangerous team for the first position, for the Champions League positions, for the fight to win trophies," he said.
Unfortunately for Spurs, their coach was proven right. A 2-1 win for Newcastle took them above Manchester United and Chelsea into fourth.
Newcastle had not breached the top four after 12 or more matches of a Premier League season since April 2012, when they ultimately finished fifth and were in a relegation battle the following season.
This time, the "danger" they pose to Klopp, Conte and the rest appears more sustainable.
Challenging the elite
Newcastle were themselves the team under threat at the turn of the year, entering 2022 at risk of relegation. However, between January and May, Howe's side collected the fourth-most points in the division to finish comfortable in 11th.
The Magpies are fourth again this season, yet Howe has not settled for repeating the performances of the first half of the year.
Although Newcastle won 12 of their 19 games over that period, they ranked joint-11th for goals (25), 12th for shots (236) and 14th for expected goals (25.5). They were at least a little better defensively, conceding the joint-fifth-fewest goals (20), facing the sixth-fewest shots (231) and allowing the sixth-lowest xG (23.9).
In 2022-23, Newcastle have improved further on that defensive effort while also striking a balance with their attack.
Their 20 goals rank seventh, their 181 shots third and their 19.7 xG also third. Going the other way, Newcastle have the meanest defence (10 goals conceded), allowing the fifth-lowest xG (12.1) despite giving up 143 shots, the ninth-fewest.
Boosting their starting XI with the signings of Nick Pope and Sven Botman, Newcastle have a better team now than last season, but their improvement is just as much the result of a concerted coaching effort.
Following a dramatic April defeat of Leicester City, Howe said Newcastle needed to "change" the way they played, moving away from the "compact" approach that delivered that result. He and they have done exactly that.
Newcastle are now controlling more of the possession (50.8 per cent versus 41.6 per cent), starting their attacks further upfield (42.6 metres versus 41.3m) and allowing fewer opposition passes per defensive action (10.8 versus 13.7).
That aggressive press is seeing Newcastle register 10.6 high turnovers per game, up from 7.1.
Newcastle were already beating teams in the bottom half; now, they are a major threat against the elite. After defeating Tottenham, the Magpies have five points from four meetings with 'big six' opposition this season. They only collected four points from 12 such matches last season.
Toon staying power
This is not the first time one of the 'other 14' have attempted to upset the apple cart. Leicester City even remarkably won the title in 2015-16.
The Foxes were able to use that against-the-odds success as a platform to challenge the Premier League's leading lights over a prolonged period, yet the best they could subsequently manage was a pair of fifth-placed finishes.
Their spending in pursuit of Champions League football caught up with them, leading to the slow start to this season. Newcastle, with their huge financial power, are unlikely to have the same problem.
The Magpies should also avoid the fate that befell West Ham, who similarly chased a top-four place and came up short, seemingly due to a lack of squad depth.
It is Newcastle's surprising squad depth that has lifted them to this level. Since Alexander Isak's club-record signing in August, Howe has not been able to play his best XI. Allan Saint-Maximin is yet to play a single minute alongside Isak, with both men injured for Sunday's match.
Newcastle's sole loss at Liverpool came with first-choice centre-backs Fabian Schar and Sven Botman rested and Bruno Guimaraes, Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson all out.
Schar, Botman and Guimaraes are the only three players in the Premier League to have played more than 700 minutes this season without tasting defeat.
Miguel Almiron has been the latest secondary star to step up, scoring six goals this season, including five in his past five. Before that run, it was widely expected he would be the man to make way when Isak and Wilson were paired.
Given Kieran Trippier, Guimaraes, Saint-Maximin and Wilson only started together once in 2021-22, Howe might wonder if he will ever see this Newcastle squad at full strength.
On the evidence of this season so far – and Sunday's superb performance – it might not matter.
Both Wilson and Howe smiled when asked by Sky Sports after the Spurs win what they might do this season. "Keep our feet on the ground," answered the striker, as his coach replied: "Try to win next week."
Newcastle's players and coaches may well now be the only group of people not openly discussing a European charge on Tyneside.
Tedesco blames injuries after Belgium shocked by Israel
Domenico Tedesco said Belgium's lengthy injury list was to blame after they were stunned by Israel in their final Nations League group-stage game on Sunday.
Belgium were beaten 1-0 in a game played in neutral Budapest, having also lost to Italy by the same scoreline three days earlier.
Tedesco's team were already unable to finish in the top two of Group A1 and make next year's quarter-finals, and they must now face a Group B runner-up in a promotion/relegation playoff.
Belgium were hit by something of an injury crisis during this international break, which captain Kevin De Bruyne opted to skip as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Romelu Lukaku was then among five players to withdraw from their squad on Saturday, while both Leandro Trossard and Zeno Debast were substituted with injuries on Sunday.
"Some players played 90 minutes three days ago, and tonight they were somewhat compelled to play another 90 minutes," Tedesco said afterwards, as quoted by UEFA.com.
"Overall, the lessons learned were also part of the plan; it was about getting to know many players, as we will be there in March.
"I believe we had 21 injured players in the previous qualifying stage, and today we lost Leandro Trossard and Zeno Debast to injuries.
"We had a team that had never played together, never trained together. We started well, but ultimately, under really difficult circumstances, this is not the result we hoped for, and that's why we are very disappointed."
Despite attempting 649 passes in Sunday's game, their most in a single match in this edition of the Nations League, Belgium only managed 12 shots to Israel's 10.
Their total expected goals figure of 0.91 xG, meanwhile, was only marginally higher than the 0.77 created by Israel, who saw Yarden Shua come off the bench to net an 86th-minute winner.
Despite the loss, Tedesco has seen enough to believe his team will remain in the top tier of the competition when March's playoffs roll around.
"We will remain in League A, I am sure of it, because we know how to play in such matches," he said. "This will be important; that is our goal, as is qualifying for the World Cup."
Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.
The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.
This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.
However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.
Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.
"It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.
"We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.
"It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."
Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.
In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.
"[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.
"Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.
"We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."
France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March.
Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive
Relegated Israel stunned Belgium 1-0 in their final Nations League game as Yarden Shua's late goal earned them their first win in the competition this season.
The Red Devils, who were without a number of key players for the tie in Hungary, were masters of their own downfall as they gifted Israel the winner with four minutes left on the clock.
In a cagey first half, Eli Dasa breached Belgium's backline 24 minutes in and beat Koen Casteels with a crisp low effort, only to be denied by the foot of the far post.
Casteels was alert just before the break, getting down low to push Dor Peretz's low drive away from the bottom corner.
Domenico Tedesco's half-time team talk looked to have buoyed his side as they upped the pressure, with Lois Openda hitting the side netting before Johan Bakayoko forced a fingertip save out of Daniel Peretz just after the hour.
However, in their rush to find a winner, Belgium were caught playing out from the back. Dor Peretz latched onto Matte Smets' loose backpass, and though he was bundled over in the box, Shua coolly picked out the bottom corner.
Israel finish bottom of Group A2 and are automatically relegated to League B, while Belgium sit above them due to a superior goal difference in their head-to-head record –they now have a relegation play-off to overcome.
Data Debrief: Tough times for Tedesco
It has been a Nations League campaign to forget for Belgium, who managed just one win and finished with a whimper as they went winless in their final four matches (D1 L3).
They just edged the shot count in Budapest, having 12 attempts to Israel's 10, but without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne to call on, they lacked a clinical edge.
While Belgium struggled in attack, their defensive struggles will also be a worry for Tedesco. They failed to win any of the four games in which they fell behind in the group, earning just one point from a losing position.
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