Benítez previews City showdown

The Magpies were beaten 1-0 at St. James’ Park last month, a game in which they saw just 22 per cent of possession. Still, they almost grabbed an equaliser against Pep Guardiola’s troops, with Rolando Aarons and Dwight Gayle both going close.

City suffered a first league defeat of the campaign last Sunday – going down 4-3 in a thrilling encounter against Liverpool – but remain 12 points clear at the top of the table.

Benítez spoke of the need for his side to be positive when they travel to the Etihad Stadium, a venue at which they were beaten 6-1 on their last visit, in October 2015.

“I said after (the first) game, ‘I am a manager, and I have to try and do the best for my team.’ We had some chances at the end, and we could have drawn the game,” the Spaniard said. “We will try to do well, and we will try to score goals because it is the only way to win games. It is not a cup competition where one goal can sometimes count double for you. In this case, we have to score more goals than them if we want to win, and if not, we have to score at least as many as them to draw.

“We didn’t have any pressure before, and we don’t have any pressure when we play against them now. They are so good, there is never a good time to play them. They know they are a good team. They are top of the table, they are winning almost every game – until the last one – so, we don’t have any pressure. We have to do our job and try to get points if we can.

“Before (the first) game, we were analysing a lot of games Manchester City were playing – different systems, different approaches, and still they are winning. So, you know, they say, ‘This team did really well.’ But, they lost 2-1, 4-1, or 4-0. Everyone will have an opinion and we will try to bring the best out of our players for this game. We have confidence we can do it, even though we know it is a very difficult task.”