These two teams met in America last month and, back on home soil, they duly kicked off the Premier League season with a game of basketball - but in Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali it was Newcastle who had a pair of MVPs to make the difference.
For just about an hour, this breathless contest was a lot closer than the eventual scoreline suggests. But then, Newcastle simply blew Villa away. It was a devastating show of strength - and strength in depth given substitutes Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes netted the game-clinching fourth and fifth.
But it was Tonali and Isak who had put Eddie Howe’s side in a winning position.