Gary Neville highlights Eddie Howe’s tactical blunder during Man City vs Newcastle

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Newcastle United got it all wrong against Manchester City.

Going into the game, the Magpies’ record at the Etihad Stadium was awful, but there was hope it could improve. Instead, Newcastle United’s record at the Etihad actually got worse.

Newcastle lost 4-0 to Manchester City, as Omar Marmoush announced himself to the Premier League at the expense of Eddie Howe’s side.

It was a terrible performance from the Magpies. Alan Shearer was furious with Newcastle’s display, while captain Bruno Guimaraes was not happy either.

The game was over by half-time, with Omar Marmoush running riot. He netted a 14-minute hat-trick to ruin Newcastle’s dreams of ending their Etihad Stadium nightmare.

Gary Neville reacts as Omar Marmoush gets the better of Kieran Trippier

The main worry was Erling Haaland, but Newcastle could not handle Marmoush either. His runs were incredibly dangerous, as he forced an error from Kieran Trippier that resulted in the opening goal of the game.

Following the game, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has somewhat defended Trippier, admitting that Marmoush was making runs that any right-back would hate.

“There are certain players who catch my eye purely because he plays where I used to play or in the area where I used to play,” he said.

“He’s obviously left-sided forward and I was a right-back. He makes the runs I wouldn’t want you to make. Those really quick runs.

“That run he made inside Trippier for the first goal, I know Trippier got under it in the end, but making that run you will get joy. Any left winger or right winger watching, if you run hard and fast in between the fullback and centre-back on a regular basis, four or five times a half, you will get joy. I promise you. It’s a fact.

“The fullbacks hate it. The reason fullbacks hate it is because the big decision is when do you let him go and play offside, when do you actually follow him. That’s the challenge.”

Newcastle United manager made a mistake not picking Tino Livramento

Trippier really struggled against Manchester City, which resulted in him being substituted at half-time. Trippier was replaced by Tino Livramento, who has spent most of the season as the Magpies’ first choice right-back.

It appeared that Livramento had lost his place to Trippier following the latter’s display against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, but Neville’s analysis suggests why Eddie Howe potentially made a tactical blunder on Saturday.

While you could argue that Trippier deserved to retain his place, the challenge of taking on Marmoush was perhaps better suited to Livramento. He is much quicker than Trippier, which makes him better suited to stopping those runs that Marmoush continued to make.

It will be interesting to see who Howe deploys at right-back on Sunday when Newcastle face Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park. There is a real battle at right-back emerging, as players vie for a place in the Carabao Cup final starting XI on March 16th against Liverpool.