Star Newcastle trio who hurt Man City in latest win must be unleashed by Eddie Howe on Saturday

Add as preferred source on Google

Newcastle United are back in action in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon when they face reigning champions Manchester City.

Eddie Howe‘s side will be eager to bounce back after their “awful” 3-1 defeat to Fulham, but it is a tall order to get a result against a Manchester City side full of confidence after their late equaliser against Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola’s side will travel to St James’ Park targeting nothing less than three points and it is down to Newcastle to spring an upset.

City will have a weakened squad on their trip to the North East with star midfielder Rodri suffering a serious knee injury against Arsenal.

Kevin de Bruyne is also a doubt having missed City’s last two games with an injury setback. Guardiola will be forced to reshuffle his midfield and that is where Newcastle can take advantage.

Newcastle midfield trio must all start

There has been a lot made of Sandro Tonali‘s start to the season after he returned from his 10-month suspension.

Howe has carefully reintegrated him into the squad, which is understandable given his lack of match rhythm in recent months, but Newcastle continue to look much sharper with him on the pitch.

His only start so far this season came against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup, but after coming off the bench against Fulham and having a full week’s rest, he should be handed a start against City.

Bruno Guimaraes has had a poor start to the season after being handed the captaincy over the summer, but Howe will continue playing Guimaraes in an attempt to build up his sharpness.

Joelinton is another who has had an inconsistent start, but on his day he has proven that he can hurt the Premier League’s biggest teams with his energetic running and physicality.

Newcastle are yet to start the trio together despite it being Howe’s strongest midfield on paper. Against City that has to change.

Newcastle United trio hurt Man City in latest win

Newcastle have actually fared pretty well against Man City in recent meetings, but their only win in the last four matches came in the Carabao Cup this time last year.

The Magpies won 1-0 with Alexander Isak scoring the only goal of the game in the second half.

A second half in which Newcastle had a midfield trio of – you guessed it – Bruno Guimaraes, Tonali and Joelinton.

Lewis Miley actually started the match alongside Tonali and Joelinton, but he was replaced by Guimaraes at the break. Newcastle stepped it up a gear in the second half and found a winner through Isak.

READ MORE: No sign of £15m player in Newcastle United training ahead of Manchester City

The result did come against a rotated City side, but a side still stacked with world-class talent.

With Howe looking to repeat that result on Saturday, he should put his faith in his best midfield trio to shine.