Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is not convinced that his side are Premier League title challengers this season, despite Pep Guardiola’s comments on Friday.
The Manchester City boss claimed in his Fulham pre-match press conference that Newcastle were a genuine threat to the Blues’ chances of reclaiming their title this season. Explaining his theory, Guardiola said: “Newcastle have a good manager and top-class players.
“I imagine they are going to stay there for a long time. They have physicality in the middle, box-to-box transitions and their intensity without the ball is impressive.
“Also, they are not playing in Europe, which is a big advantage because when you arrive in the last months you have energy.” When those comments were put to Howe before the Magpies’ 4-1 victory over Southampton, the Newcastle boss disagreed with Guardiola’s assessment.
“It has been a brilliant year for us, it has flown by,” he told Sky Sports. “I wouldn’t go that far as Pep but we are very pleased with where we are at.
“We know today is going to be a very difficult game and we are prepared for that so hopefully we can give a good performance.” Miguel Almiron, Chris Wood, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes were all on the scoresheet at St Mary’s as Newcastle romped to victory on Sunday.
Howe’s side are five points behind the Blues thanks to the victory on the south coast. However, City do have a game in hand and will be buoyant following their dramatic late win against Fulham on Saturday.