Former Sunderland boss shows true Newcastle colours but makes twist claim before Everton visit

Newcastle United face Everton at St James' Park on the final day and Toffees boss David Moyes has paid tribute to the Magpies before giving his take on the race for the Champions League

David Moyes has predicted that the race to qualify for the Champions League will go down to the wire ahead of taking his Everton side to St James' Park for the final game of the season next week.

It is all set up for a gripping finale with just six points separating Arsenal in second and Nottingham Forest in seventh. Newcastle United even have the chance to leapfrog Arsenal in the table with a win at the Emirates on Sunday in the Magpies' penultimate match of the campaign.

One more victory in either of Newcastle's final two games should see the black-and-whites qualify for the Champions League because Nottingham Forest can only reach a maximum of 68 points and sixth-placed Aston Villa have a vastly inferior goal difference than Eddie Howe's team. With six sides battling it out for just four positions, Moyes has suggested there could be one or two twists to come in the overall race.

"I have to say Eddie Howe and Newcastle winning the cup and being on the verge of making the Champions League again is brilliant," the former Sunderland boss told talkSPORT. "It's really top-end stuff.

"Nottingham Forest have had an outstanding season. The [Aston] Villas and Chelseas have always been there and never gone away so it's really tight. I can't see much changing until probably the second half of the final game of the season."

Howe, similarly, has long talked of the race going to the final game and the Newcastle boss warned of 'lots of twists and turns that could be around the corner' following last week's crucial win against Chelsea.

"We know how tight it is with the teams around us, so we're not taking anything for granted," he added. "I have to say, the players have been magnificent in that respect for a long time, but we go again."