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The Fantasy legacy left by Rafael Benitez at Newcastle

Sitting bottom of our Season Ticker in the first ten Gameweeks of the season, Newcastle United and their players aren’t likely to be popular Fantasy choices when the 2019/20 campaign gets underway this week.

The departure of Rafael Benitez was seen as something of a hammer blow, too, given the widely held consensus that he overachieved with the squad of players at his disposal.

New head coach Steve Bruce has so far been savvy enough to (largely) stick with the same system and players that Benitez managed last season, replacing any departees rather than looking to move on the reliable club servants of 2018/19 – although Mike Ashley’s transfer policy is, of course, a contributing factor in that regard.

Benitez was at St James’ Park for over three years so his methods may still be in evidence going into the start of the new season, with a core group of his players (particularly in defence) remaining on the books.

An analysis of last season’s numbers is still relevant, then, so we will examine the Magpies’ key underlying stats to see how Bruce’s side may affect the Fantasy landscape in the early part of 2019/20.

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