Eddie Howe has urged his Newcastle United players to maintain their current momentum when they face treble winners Manchester City on Saturday night.
Newcastle finished last season fourth in the Premier League – their highest finish since ending the 2002/23 season third under Bobby Robson – and began the new campaign with a superb 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa.
But now the Magpies face the ultimate test when they take on Pep Guardiola's men, who defeated Sevilla on penalties in Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup.
Newcastle's record at City is abysmal – they have never won a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium and last took three points no their when they won 1-0 in 2000 at Maine Road thanks to an Alan Shearer goal.
But optimism is sky high on Tyneside after their resurgence under Howe and the fact City played a draining match against Sevilla in the heat of Athens just three days ago could also count in their favour.
“We want our players to go there with all the positive emotions that our season last year and our first game of this season should bring. We have to be ourselves. We can't change,” said Howe during Friday's pre-game press conference.
“We want to become a top team consistently in the Premier League and to do that we have to have a clear identity and try to implement that on other teams.
“They went into a tough game [in the Super Cup] and were desperate to win, you could see their reactions afterwards. This is a team that will not be complacent. They will be ready for us so we expect a really good game.”
Last Saturday's win over Villa at Saturday was a hugely impressive one with Howe starting with Alexander Isak in the striker's role ahead of last season's top scorer Callum Wilson.
Newcastle 5 Villa 1: Player ratings
Isak repaid his manager's faith by scoring twice with Wilson also on target when the England attacker come off the bench in the second half.
Wilson admitted he used the disappointment of being a substitute as motivation when he did appear on the pitch and Howe admitted it had been a tough call to make before the game.
“It was very difficult,” he said. “One of those calls that I didn't look forward to making out of my love for Callum. My relationship with him is very strong and he's been outstanding for me as a manager.
“To make those calls and disappoint someone you love is very difficult. I had to make a call, and Alex performed really well and so did Callum; they both scored. Getting off the mark is important.”
As for Isak, the Swede continues to go from strength to strength since his club-record £63 million move from Real Sociedad last summer.
“I think he's coped with the move really well, especially when you consider he had an injury early on which was a hugely frustrating period for him.
"Sometimes the price tag can weigh heavy but I don't get that feeling with Alex – he's taken it all in his stride. He's performing really well, and he has done through pre-season so I'm hopeful he'll have a great season.”
Another bonus of last week was the debut of Sandro Tonali after his £60 millon summer switch from Italian giants AC Milan.
The Italian midfielder scored the first goal after just six minutes and earned rave reviews after the match for his superlative all-round performance that has instantly endeared him to home fans.
“The start is hugely important because it settles everyone down. You could see when he scored, the emotion coming out,” said Howe.
“The rest of his performance followed that, where he was excellent. Hopefully now he'll feel the love of the supporters and there will be an instant connection – that can only help him.”
Newcastle, meanwhile, are closing in on the signing of 18-year-old Chelsea defender Lewis Hall: “It’s a loan deal,” added Howe. “He’s a player I like – very versatile with really good potential.
“Let’s see what happens today. If we do bring a player in [Hall], that will be our transfer business concluded, [barring] injuries.”
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MATCH INFO
Karnataka Tuskers 110-5 (10 ovs)
Tharanga 48, Shafiq 34, Rampaul 2-16
Delhi Bulls 91-8 (10 ovs)
Mathews 31, Rimmington 3-28
Karnataka Tuskers win by 19 runs
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
Score
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
New Zealand lead three-match ODI series 1-0
Next match: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Friday
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
Company%20Profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Andor
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