Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has praised Manchester City and their manager Pep Guardiola, saying they have set the benchmark ahead of this weekend’s Premier League showdown.
The Magpies visit the Etihad to face the former league champions, having won the first fixture 2-1 earlier in the campaign.
However, Guardiola’s side claimed a 5-1 aggregate win over two legs in the EFL Cup semifinal played across January and February, to advance to the March 22 final against Arsenal.
Speaking during Friday’s pre-match press conference, Howe acknowledges the threat posed by a quality-stacked Manchester City team.
“Genuinely, I think we learn something more about ourselves and our game going forward every time we play them”, Howe stated.
“They have been the benchmark for a number of years for many teams. Each painful defeat we suffer at the Etihad we try to grow from it, evolve and improve.
“They have been very, very good and are led by an outstanding manager, they continue to be the benchmark in my opinion.”
Newcastle come into the game in fine form having won their last two matches, including a dominant 6-1 win at Qarabag in the Champions League playoff knockout round.
However, they have only won once in this fixture in the last seven meetings and have not won at the Etihad since 2014.
“Every time we’ve played there, I think we’ve made mistakes big enough to cost us the game. We’ve been in the games, they’ve been competitive, but they have been too good for us on a number of occasions and we need to bridge that gap this weekend”, Howe added.
“Every team you play is beatable. That gives us hope [that we have beaten them before] and the evidence is there that we can win the game. We have to do everything right, tactically, physically. We’ve done it before and if we turn up we know we can do it”, the Newcastle boss concluded.
A win for Newcastle this weekend would move them closer into an European spot, while dashing their hosts title aspirations.
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