what Newcastle did was inseparable from their big motivation to be able to finish in the top 4 and get a ticket to the UCL and with the inconsistency of Manchester United and Tottenham, they were able to take very good use of the Newcastle team to continue to maintain their position.
I think Newcastle are playing pretty good right now and they have a very big chance to finish in the top 4 of the final standings.
Manchester United are underperforming at the moment and Tottenham are also inconsistent so it will be very profitable for Newcastle.
If you look at the odds, it is true that Newcastle has the potential to finish in the top four of the Premier League standings this season, as well as Manchester United which has the chance to get in the top three of the Premier League standings if in the rest of the season it is able to improve its performance by continuing to get points in every game.
Because Manchester United and Newcastle now have the same number of points and will continue to compete for more positions until the end of this season. Meanwhile, Tottenham also have the potential to be overtaken by Brighton if they are still not consistent in the rest of the season, because Brighton is not far behind Tottenham in the current Premier League standings.
Basically it is not safe for Newcastle to qualify for the Champions League next season because there are still several important and tough matches waiting for them in the rest of the season. But maybe yes, but only if they are able to maintain their current form.
There were at least 3 matches that I think were difficult for Newcastle including against Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea. IMO, in these 3 matches, Newcastle's consistency is in doubt, even though there is no guarantee they can win many matches before or after. Their targets are good, but they will be heavily challenged by big teams until the end of the season.