Newcastle Utd v Man City: Eddie Howe confirms two Newcastle players are doubts for the clash

Eddie Howe has confirmed Jamal Lewis is likely to be unavailable for Newcastle United this weekend when they host Manchester City, while forward Allan Saint-Maximin is also a doubt.

Both players were withdrawn in Thursday night’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool, meaning the latter closed the gap at the top of the table to just a point after City’s 7-0 demolition of Leeds United on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola will be hoping his men can put in another stirring showing at St James’ Park on Sunday, and their chances of coming away with all three points seem much more likely if the spirited Saint-Maximin isn’t available.

“I don’t know at this moment in time,” Howe said on Thursday night. “With Maxi, I think he took a really nasty tackle. I don’t know if his injury is related to that tackle or more muscular - I’ve got no idea.

“I did try and speak to him as he came off but didn’t manage to get clear communication on what that was wrong, so fingers crossed for him. He’s such a big player for us. We don’t want to lose him for any amount of time.”

As for Lewis, the Northern Ireland international’s problem seems much more clear-cut, as he pulled up holding his hamstring midway through the first half.

“It looks bad. It looks like a hamstring problem,” the ex-Bournemouth manager said. “It’s a surprise with Jamal because he’s so athletic. He’s been excellent in terms of his athletic work for us so far.

“Matt Ritchie came on and was fantastic in his place but certainly, it’s not the time of year for us to lose players and fingers crossed it’s only Jamal that will probably go into the Christmas period in doubt. But we still need to check a few others who are carrying things today.”

Will Howe rotate against City?

Given that there are just three days between the visits of Liverpool and City, Howe could be tempted to rotate his side, and hinted in his pre-match press conference that he may be forced into making a few alterations.

“I think the challenge in these two games is, the reality is we’re going to be without the ball for long periods of time and I think the physical effort and exertion of the players is really tested,” he explained.

“I think you saw we lost Jamal Lewis, and a lot of the players were suffering with fatigue, due to the fact we were without the ball for long periods.

“It’s a unique test for us, these two games. But the fact that we’re at home, with the crowd with us, hopefully that will inspire us. But we’re going to need to potentially rotate the team and make sure the team that takes to pitch is as fresh as it can be.”

What about City’s team news?

With Guardiola’s press conference being cancelled on Friday afternoon, there have been no fresh updates since Tuesday night.

Bernardo Silva was replaced at half-time in that emphatic win, with the City boss explaining post-match this was due to ‘muscular niggles’. Meanwhile, Kyle Walker missed the game as he was deemed to be ‘short of full fitness’.

Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were unused substitutes on Tuesday and will likely start at St James’ Park, along with Ruben Dias and Rodri, both of whom were taken off in the win over Leeds. Joao Cancelo is available again after his one-game suspension in midweek.

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