Newcastle United often find themselves facing one of the so-called 'Big Six' clubs on the first and last day of any given season - and there is a decent chance that will happen again in 2019/20.
The Premier League will release their fixtures for the new season at 9am on Thursday, when the Magpies will learn the order in which they will face their 19 top-flight opponents home and away next season.
At this stage it is remains unclear whether manager Rafa Benitez will still be in charge for the first game of the new campaign, or if a successor will be at the helm at St James' Park - but at least the fixtures themselves will provide something tangible for supporters to look ahead to.
In terms of who will face each other on the opening day of the new campaign, the Premier League arranges its fixtures so that none of the top six from the previous campaign meet on either the first or last weekends - according to a report in The Times.
It turns out that it is far from coincidental that Newcastle have regularly taken on the very best sides in the division on either the first or last weekend of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur were the Magpies’ final opponents of the 2015/16 relegation season, while Rafa Benitez’s side also welcomed Mauricio Pochettino’s men to St James’ Park on the opening day of each of the last two campaigns.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were the visitors to Tyneside for the denouement of the 2017/18 campaign - while Newcastle have regularly faced Manchester United and Arsenal on the opening day of previous top-flight seasons, too.
This arrangement, it is claimed, has unofficially been in place for “several years”, though it was also included in the Premier League’s tender document sent out to broadcasters for the first time last year.
Seemingly the most-successful six teams from the previous campaign are kept apart on the first and last weekends in order for the Premier League to maximise viewing figures, with smaller TV audiences likely during the summer holidays and then during the packed May sporting calendar.
Furthermore, top-six sides are also guaranteed to meet on 26 separate weekends as per the agreement.
And this revelation helps show that top-flight fixtures are not decided at random. Rather, there are several factors which determine when and where games will be played.
As a result, if one of last season's top six is either hosting the Magpies, or visiting St James' Park, on the weekend of August 10.
