Pep Guardiola will take his Manchester City squad to Newcastle with a clean bill of health – apart from long-term injury victim Ferran Torres. The manager survived a Covid scare after an inconclusive test this morning when he was returned a negative PCR result later, and his squad is also free of illness and injury as they seek to maintain their lead over Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola said: “Everyone is fit, it’s just Ferran (Torres) missing. Joao (Cancelo) is back after (his suspension against) Leeds and we will travel to Newcastle with everyone ready to play,” said Guardiola, after being given the all-clear. It is not easy to go to Newcastle and get a result so we will need the whole team and hopefully we will be strong enough to get the points. Newcastle is a very tough opponent. People will talk about our place in the table or their place in the table but when you go to Newcastle you know what sort of game to expect. Now they have a new manager in Eddie [Howe] and we know what a good manager he is. They have had a tough start to the season but they are a good team with good players and a top manager so we will go there and have to work hard for each other to win the game.”
Newcastle have struggled this season but showed their mettle by pushing Liverpool close before succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Thursday night. And Guardiola said his players are under no illusions that a severe test awaits: “Every game in the Premier League is tough. Whether you are playing against teams at the top of the table or the bottom.
Pep Guardiola said: “Everyone wants to win every match and at this level you have to be prepared for this. Newcastle in their stadium with their fans behind them, they will be ready and they have the quality to hurt us if we don’t play at our best. We are playing well and getting results we want, but we have to continue this. You need to score goals to win games, that is no secret. We have found a way to score goals from different places in different ways and Tuesday was a good example. Scoring goals also brings confidence, for the team, for the players and that will be important in helping us to win the next game. If they are know they are capable of scoring goals like this then that confidence will help us achieve our goals.”
Guardiola was delighted that Jack Grealish managed his third goal of te season, with the pressure mounting on his after his British record £100million transfer.
Pep Guardiola said: “Jack (Grealish) is an outstanding player. He has so much quality and has played so well for us. It is important for every player to feel like they are contributing with goals but he has been playing well all season and we know what to expect from him. It takes time to get used to a new team, a new way of playing but Jack knows what he has to do and we will continue to see this. What is most important is the next game. And the next one and the next one. We try not to look to much behind us because when you do that, you lose your focus. It is important not to look at our last result and think ‘we are there’.
