Eddie Howe has backed his Newcastle side to provide a fresh twist to the Premier League title race this weekend.
Newcastle, without six senior players, travel to second-placed Manchester City on Saturday knowing Pep Guardiola’s side are aiming to close the gap on leaders Arsenal.
The Gunners, who face Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday, have dropped points in their last two league outings and questions have been raised over their title credentials.
Newcastle will do Arsenal a favour if they manage to complete a league double over Man City after their 2-1 win at St James’ Park earlier in the season.
However, the Magpies are yet to win at the Etihad Stadium in 20 attempts in the Premier League and were recently beaten home and away by Man City in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Despite, history being against his side, Howe is confident Newcastle can upset the odds this weekend.
“Genuinely, I think we learn something more about ourselves and our game going forward every time we play them,” Howe said in the pre-match press conference on Friday.
"They have been the benchmark for a number of years for many teams. Each painful defeat we suffer at the Etihad we try to grow from it, evolve and improve.
"They have been very, very good and are led by an outstanding manager. They continue to be the benchmark in my opinion.
"Every time we've played there, I think we've made mistakes big enough to cost us the game.
Each painful defeat we suffer at the Etihad we try to grow from it, evolve and improve
“We've been in the games, they've been competitive, but they have been too good for us on a number of occasions and we need to bridge that gap this weekend.
"Every team you play is beatable. That gives us hope [that we have beaten them before] and the evidence is there that we can win the game.
“We have to do everything right, tactically, physically. We've done it before and if we turn up we know we can do it."
Since a 3-1 loss to Man City in the Carabao Cup semi-final, Newcastle have won three away games in a row across three different competitions, scoring ten goals in the process.
