Inside Newcastle United's preparations for Man City as Eddie Howe told five key issues

The Magpies have had a full week to prepare for Man City after their Carabao Cup tie away to AFC Wimbledon was postponed due to significant flooding. Here, NewcastleWorld take a look at the things Eddie Howe must address in preparation for Pep Guardiola’s men.

The full-backs

Howe is yet to start the same two full-backs in consecutive matches this season. Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall have started twice, as have Livramento and Lloyd Kelly while Trippier and Hall, and Trippier and Kelly have played once.

All those players give the team something different, making them better suited to certain games. Howe thought Trippier and Kelly were the answer at Fulham, only for the latter to be brought off at half-time for Hall with United 2-0 down.

Does Howe go for the pace of Livramento, or the experience of Trippier? Will he opt for an attack-minded Hall over Kelly? It’s no easy decision for the head coach, based on the evidence so far.

The BIG midfield conundrum

If the full-back situation is giving Howe a headache, then the midfield dilemma will be giving him a migraine!

Howe has five midfielders to chose from, which will become six when Lewis Miley returns, but finding the right balance is alluding him.

Fulham became the latest team to exploit the gaps in behind United’s midfield. Give similar space to Kevin De Bruyne - if fit - Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan this weekend then it could get ugly.

Bruno Guimaraes, the club’s captain and lynchpin, isn’t hitting his usual high standards, while Joelinton only seems to be his true on Tyneside. Joe Willock gives you legs but can sometimes go missing (see Fulham away).

There’s Sean Longstaff, the one everyone blames and Sandro Tonali, the one everyone wants in his place. Howe, however, is showing a reluctant to the start Italian. Why? Well only he knows.

Getting the best out of Alexander Isak

Alexander Isak is feeding off scraps and that’s no way to treat a player of his quality. This is a man who scored 25 goals last season and is regarded as the best striker in the Premier League behind Erling Haaland.

Howe admitted his concerns after the Fulham game. “He’s not as involved as we want him to be, he’s not having the impact in the games we want him to have and what he is capable of doing,” he said. “It’s one for me to think about.”

When Isak followed up his goal against Tottenham Hotspur with three goals in two games for Sweden, that was expected to kickstart his season, however, it just hasn’t happened.

The 25-year-old hasn’t become a player overnight. Like the rest of the team, the head coach is paid to find the solutions.

Anthony Gordon concern

Anthony Gordon prefers to play on the left side of attack but Harvey Barnes has done more to justify his selection with three goals and an assist in his last four games.

Gordon moved over to the right against Fulham and his body language didn’t go unnoticed. While he is having moments where he sparks into life, the winger arguably looks of a shadow of his 2023-24 self.

A difficult summer away with England at Euro 2024 should now be a distance memory with interim manager Lee Carsley putting his utmost faith in Gordon for the Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland earlier this month.

There was, of course, talk of a move to boyhood club Liverpool, and sceptics will continue to wonder if that is a factor should the 23-year-old continue to struggle.

Newcastle need Gordon firing and a front three of him, Barnes and Isak is the strongest in terms of individual quality. There are, however, perhaps questions over whether they can play together with the most effective ploy so far being to bring Barnes off the bench.

Formation change?

If the same issues persist, could it be time for a formation change?

From the start of the campaign that brought Champions League qualification, Howe has been married to 4-3-3 with the exception of some tweaks there and then.

But since the turn of the year, it’s fair to say teams have began to work the system out, resulting in a mixed bag of performances and sometimes results. On the evidence of 2024, it is a system that, at the very least, needs evolving. And if that fails, then may be time for Howe to bin it.