Eddie Howe must halt horrendous six-year curse against Man City this weekend

Newcastle United go into this weekend’s game against Manchester City desperately needing a win to get their season back on track, but there’s even more at stake for the Magpies.

Defeats to West Ham and Brentford have sent Newcastle spiralling down the Premier League table and they currently sit in 14th place ahead of Saturday evening’s game.

Eddie Howe is now under some pressure at Newcastle and things will have to turn around soon or they can kiss goodbye to Champions League football.

This game against Man City is just the start of a very tough run of fixtures for Newcastle, and it’s safe to say history is not on their side when it comes to facing the blue half of Manchester.

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Manchester City have dominated Newcastle United over the last 20 years

There is never really a good time to play Man City, as Newcastle fans can very readily attest to. In fact, the Magpies find it so tough to beat Pep Guardiola’s side that they’ve only managed one win in the last six years, and that came in the Carabao Cup.

The last time Newcastle beat City in the league was a 2-1 win at St. James’ Park at the end of January in 2019. Rafael Benitez was in charge for that game, with goals from Salomon Rondon and Matt Ritchie sealing the three points.

The problems run deeper than that, though. If we look at the bigger picture over a greater period of time, we find that Newcastle have actually only beaten Manchester City four times in the last 20 years (across a total of 41 meetings in all competitions).

During that time, we’ve seen a run of five games without Newcastle even scoring a goal against City (between March 2013 and August 2014), three 5-0 wins for Man City, and four 4-0 wins.

Eddie Howe is still waiting for his first league win against City as Newcastle United manager, with just the one victory in the Carabao Cup coming in 2023.

Interestingly, in the history of the two clubs, it’s a pretty even affair, with City having 79 wins to Newcastle’s 73, and 42 draws. But, this side of the millennium, there is only one winner.

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How can Newcastle United get a win against Man City?

The most obvious route to getting one over Man City is to ensure that Erling Haaland is restricted. That’s easier said than done, but Aston Villa did it not long ago, and Spurs did it earlier this season, too.

If the Newcastle defenders can get tight to him and not allow the ball into him, that’s half the job. Likewise, all the creative channels need to be closed off at the source, which means a lot of hard work for the Newcastle midfield.

Howe has some big decisions to make when naming his Newcastle XI vs City. Namely, does he go more conservative and defensive with the midfield three and stick with Joelinton, or inject some creativity into that area by selecting Jacob Ramsey?

That tactical decision could well be the key to the game for the Magpies. In many ways, Newcastle have nothing to lose; the odds are stacked against them anyway, so maybe Howe should throw caution to the wind?

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