Jack Wright's Weekend 4/1 Treble

Newcastle will have their sights set on a top four finish this season with no European football to distract them and hopefully nowhere near as many injuries as they suffered last term. Eddie Howe will expect to see his men get off to a winning start against newly promoted Southampton. The Toon have won each of the last five meetings between the clubs and six of the last seven clashes at St. James' Park scoring at least twice in all those games.

Newcastle started the last campaign with a 5-1 hammering of Champions League qualifiers Aston Villa going on to win eight of their opening nine home league fixtures. By the end of the season only the top three had won more points on home soil. We could see a similar start this term against a Saints side that will take chances at the back as they carry out Russell Martin’s possession-based philosophy.

Due to a four-point deduction Nottingham Forest had to wait until the last day of the season to guarantee their place in the Premier League for a third successive campaign. Having taken over in December this will be Nuno Espírito Santo’s first full pre-season and so far, the signs have been encouraging.

Under the Portuguese Forest showed more attacking intent than with predecessor Steve Cooper and that has carried on over the summer. There is a clear focus on pressing from the front and utilising their speed and width. The transfer window has been less chaotic with the £35m signing of Elliot Anderson an exciting addition to an already impressive attack. Chris Wood hit an impressive 14 league goals last term and has five goal involvements in pre-season. At the other end Nikola Milenkovic looks an eye-catching piece of business after 7 years at Fiorentina. Expect the Serbian to form a solid partnership with Murillo at the heart of the Forest defence.

Bournemouth got off to an awful start under Andoni Iraola last season winning none of his first nine league games in charge. It could be another tricky spell for the Spaniard having seen star striker Dominic Solanke sold to Tottenham on the eve of the new campaign. Until a suitable replacement is found the Cherries look well worth taking on.

After bouncing straight back to the Premier League at the first time of asking Leicester barely had time to celebrate before their manager and player of the season were both snapped up by Chelsea. Steve Cooper is now in charge and has admitted the club have been “desperate” for signings for a while.

The Foxes ended pre-season with three straight defeats to-nil and with players playing out of position. Their opening day test is a tough one. Ange Postecoglou immediately won over the Tottenham fans (and most others) last season as he brought his expansive, exciting, breathless football to the Premier League. His side roared out of the blocks this time last year putting a 10-game unbeaten run together to begin the season winning eight of those fixtures. The £60m transfer of Dominic Solanke is a piece of the jigsaw Postecoglou has been searching for a while.

With most of the key members of his squad not involved in the summer international tournaments Ange will have his men refreshed, revved up and ready to go from the first whistle again.