Newcastle trio forced six-time league winner into worst performance in nine years, Eddie Howe must start them vs Everton

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Eddie Howe got things spot on during Newcastle United’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City last week.

It was by far Newcastle United’s best performance of the season. The Magpies looked back to their energetic best against the reigning Premier League champions.

Up until the Man City draw, the story of Newcastle’s season had been scrappy performances with good results.

It was never going to be sustainable, but Eddie Howe‘s side responded emphatically to the Fulham defeat by putting on a fantastic display against City.

The challenge now is to replicate that kind of performance more regularly, starting with this Saturday’s trip to face Everton.

Eddie Howe started his best midfield vs Manchester City

Howe has admitted that central midfield is the strongest position in his squad with plenty of quality and depth.

But he struggled to get the balance right in the opening few games of the season and had to slowly reintegrate Sandro Tonali after returning from his 10-month suspension.

But against City, Howe started Tonali alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton in midfield, a star trio who have hurt City before.

Newcastle’s midfield were everything you’d want them to be – combative, composed, good on the ball and creative moving forward. And they did it against one of the best midfields in the world.

After City returned to winning ways with a 4-0 Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava, Pep Guardiola reflected on the match and admitted that Ilkay Gundogan’s performance at St James’ Park was one of the worst he has seen.

As quoted by The Chronicle, Guardiola said: “He [Gundogan] has a strong mentality.

“The game against Newcastle was not really, really good, one of the worst I’ve ever seen from him in the past eight or nine years, but it happens.”

Newcastle’s midfield deserves credit for putting Gundogan under such pressure. The 33-year-old boasts tons of experience as a six-time league winner in Germany and England, but he couldn’t get to grips with the trio of Guimaraes, Tonali and Joelinton.

Eddie Howe is finding his best Newcastle XI

Even with a handful of underwhelming performances at the start of the season, Newcastle find themselves seventh in the Premier League table with their only defeat coming against Fulham.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	FulhamFulham	6	3	2	1	8	5	3	11
7	NewcastleNewcastle	6	3	2	1	8	7	1	11
8	TottenhamTottenham	6	3	1	2	12	5	7	10

The performance against City showed that Newcastle have so much more to give, and it seems Howe is now stumbling across his best starting XI.

Issues with fitness levels and match rhythm meant that he was forced to rotate and change his side early on, but against City he found his best back four and midfield.

When Alexander Isak returns from injury he will reclaim his spot up top, which leaves both positions out wide for Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes.

After resting plenty of starters in the sleepy win over AFC Wimbledon midweek, expect the energy and intensity of this Newcastle side to return against Everton.