Pep Guardiola makes Newcastle United claim after Manchester City’s Champions League boost

Add as preferred source on Google

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have moved back above Newcastle United in the Premier League.

With Manchester City facing Aston Villa on Tuesday night, Newcastle United were always going to slip down a place in the table no matter what. The only thing that was not clear was which team would leapfrog them.

That team was Manchester City, with Matheus Nunes scoring in stoppage time to give Guardiola’s side a 2-1 victory.

They move up to third, with Eddie Howe’s side dropping to fifth. That would still be enough to qualify for the Champions League, with the Magpies having five games to play.

It remains incredibly tight in the race for Europe, and the pressure is on Newcastle to bounce back against Ipswich Town after they lost to Aston Villa.

Pep Guardiola namedrops Newcastle United after Manchester City win

Four points separate third and seventh, with five teams competing for three Champions League slots.

Manchester City are now in a strong position to qualify at the end of what Guardiola believes has been a ‘bad’ season.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	Man CityManchester City	34	18	7	9	66	43	23	61
4	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	33	18	6	9	53	39	14	60
5	NewcastleNewcastle	33	18	5	10	62	44	18	59
6	ChelseaChelsea	33	16	9	8	58	40	18	57
7	Aston VillaAston Villa	34	16	9	9	54	49	5	57

Following their win over Aston Villa, Guardiola spoke to Sky Sports about Manchester City’s difficult campaign, before taking time to praise their Premier League rivals.

“This season has been bad,” he said.

“The reality is that we’re determined. What makes you feel this season is good is the Premier League, not the Champions League or the FA Cup. It’s the consistency in the Premier League, which we have not been.

“But it happens. Sometimes you have bad seasons for many reasons. Until the end, we try to avoid the damage.

“We can qualify for the Champions League. Look at the teams. Liverpool will be champions. Arsenal, what can I say? But the other ones. Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle, ourselves and Nottingham Forest. The level of those teams is outstanding.”

Newcastle United’s remaining fixtures

Manchester City and Aston Villa have now played a game more than Newcastle United.

If the Magpies can beat Ipswich on Saturday, they will be a point above Manchester City and five points clear of Villa. That effectively means they would have a two-game advantage over Unai Emery’s side.

Howe’s men have five games to go, three of which are at home. Newcastle face Ipswich, Chelsea and Everton at St James’ Park. They will be targeting nine points from those games, which might be enough to see Newcastle over the line and bring Champions League football back to Tyneside.

The Magpies’ away games are against Brighton and Arsenal. They will be tough matches, which puts even more importance on the fixtures at St James’ Park.

Guardiola believes Newcastle are one of multiple ‘outstanding’ teams competing to be in the Champions League. It is now up to Newcastle to continue proving him right and get the job done.