ELF Cup – Newcastle vs. Man City – Eddie Howe: Match Preview

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Newcastle United welcome Manchester City to St James’ Park on Tuesday night for the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, with a place at Wembley on the line over two legs.

This competition holds special

significance for Newcastle, who lifted the trophy last season to end a 70-year wait for major silverware. Eddie Howe’s side have treated the defence of that title seriously, dispatching Bradford City and Tottenham Hotspur before edging past Fulham in the quarter-finals thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Lewis Miley. The semi-final represents their biggest test yet, but recent home form offers genuine encouragement.

Newcastle are unbeaten in 13 matches at St James’ Park across all competitions, winning 10 of those games. They have also developed a habit of frustrating Manchester City on Tyneside, winning two and drawing one of their last four home meetings. Notably, the Magpies have eliminated City in both of their most recent EFL Cup encounters, adding belief that a positive first-leg result is achievable.

Manchester City arrive in excellent overall form, unbeaten in 12 matches in all competitions. Pep Guardiola’s side have been ruthless in this season’s EFL Cup, progressing past Huddersfield Town, Swansea City and Brentford without conceding. However, the tournament has been a rare frustration for City in recent years, with multiple early exits before reaching this semi-final.

City will be keen to avoid a repeat of their 2-1 Premier League defeat at St James’ Park in November and take control of the tie before the return leg at the Etihad. Newcastle, meanwhile, will view their home leg as a vital opportunity to build an advantage against an opponent capable of overwhelming any side if given momentum.

Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk

On Livramento’s injury…
“No major update, he will be having a scan today to understand the extent of the damage on his hamstring.”

On the Carabao Cup first leg, United’s fourth consecutive game at St. James’ Park:
“I think the natural preference is for the home game to be the second leg because you have a clear understanding of what we need to do and have the home crowd with you.

“It is not like that for us this time. We need to use the home crowd for our advantage in the first game, trying to give everything to impose ourselves on them in this home tie.

“We really enjoyed the two-legged format last year and even the gap between games was good because you could detach yourself from the result and it’s very similar this year. This is going to be a tough challenge; they are the hardest team to play over two legs in this country.”

On the challenge of Man City, who are unbeaten in their last five competitive away matches since November’s 2-1 defeat against the Magpies:
“They are a very difficult team to prepare for. They always change and tinker a lot with the tactical set-up that they have and they have a few players missing.

“The priority is always ourselves and what we do and how we can hurt them. We need to give the best account of ourselves.”

On Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon…
“Harvey is in great form. He is red hot in front of goal. The goals that he’s scoring are different types as well, so it’s good to see.

“Really pleased with Anthony’s contribution as well. It was his cross for Harvey’s header and his pass for Sandro Tonali to win the penalty.

“It’s good to see the wingers producing productivity. It was something that we maybe missed early season. With Jacob Murphy and Anthony Elanga hopefully not far away, our firepower in the wide areas is getting up to full strength.”

On team-news:
“I will have discussions with the medical team and performance team; physical and energy levels are of the up most importance for this game. We will have to make decisions based on that.

“This is a huge challenge, some players have just played 120 minutes and then a few days later are being asked to go again, but I’d like to think, physically and mentally, come kick-off we will be ready to go again.”

On Emil Krafth’s fitness…
“He’s a big miss for us at the moment. He is trying to come back from a knee problem. He is not feeling absolutely at his best currently.

“I have got no definitive return day for him. We are taking it day by day and we will see him back quickly. He has always been such a reliable performer for us.

“He gives the versatility in different position and we are desperate for him [to be] back.”

On Alex Murphy…
“Alex is working hard. He’s worked really intensely on his game. We have tried to develop him in training.

“He did well against Fulham in the Carabao Cup. We will use him at the right time for us and him. He is an important player now. We have big injuries to our backline. Any player who can cover is an important player.”

Howay!