Newcastle Have Gordon Back To Face Man City Who Are Still The Team To Beat- Howe -

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Newcastle United should be boosted by the return of winger Anthony Gordon for this weekend’s Premier League match with champions Manchester City, who are still the side to beat despite their drop in form, manager Eddie Howe said on Friday.

Gordon, who has scored nine goals this season, netted against Arsenal last week in Newcastle’s 2-0 win which took Howe’s side into the League Cup final, but missed the FA Cup success over Birmingham City last weekend.

Howe is optimistic about having Gordon available for Saturday’s trip to face City.

“He should be fine. He’s trained this week, no problems,” Howe told reporters.

“It was a thigh problem, but he responded well to treatment over the weekend and has trained well.”

Defender Sven Botman, however, may need some more time after he went off against Arsenal and also missed the Birmingham clash.

“Good news on the scan that he had after the injury, we don’t think there’s any long-term issue there,” Howe said.

“Short-term, there’s still a bit of pain for him, so we think he will miss this weekend, but hopefully he won’t be far away for the following games.”

Newcastle are sixth in the standings, level on 41 points with fifth placed Manchester City, and with an almost identical record of 12 wins and seven defeats and the same goal difference.

City struggled before winning their FA Cup tie at third-tier Leyton Orient, and their league form is well off Pep Guardiola’s side’s usual high standards.

“I don’t think you necessarily look at it over that period of time. I think you have to look at it over a much longer period,” Howe said.

“They’ve been sensational and so consistent for so many seasons, which is so difficult to do at this level because of the standard of the teams.

“What we’ve seen is the standard of the Premier League congesting in its force. Every team is very difficult to play against. It’s producing a really entertaining Premier League this year. But Manchester City is still a very, very good team.

“So, for me, they’re still the benchmark, and we have to try and produce our best performance to try and get something from this match.”

Source – Reuters