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Newcastle United turn from league relief to FA Cup pressure as Manchester City visit St James’ Park on Saturday, with Eddie Howe stressing the need to build on the hard-fought 2-1 Premier League win over Manchester United rather than viewing the cup tie as a make-or-break moment for the season.

That victory over Manchester United ended a three-match losing streak at home in the league and came despite Jacob Ramsey’s first-half red card, with Newcastle playing much of the match with 10 players before William Osula struck a late winning goal that Howe now wants to use as a springboard in knockout competition.

Howe addressed suggestions that Newcastle’s campaign depends on staying in the FA Cup, even though the team also remain involved in the Champions League, by underlining a broader view of the season and stressing mindset and momentum rather than a single result against Manchester City in the fifth round.

Not sure on the word bleak, but that is the world we live in with the highs and lows, Howe said when asked if Newcastle’s season rested on progressing in the FA Cup, even though they are still in the Champions League. Positive and negative. I can’t look at things that way. We’ve got a cup tie with City, which is a great game. One of the standout ties. We have to be positive from the Manchester United game, let’s use that to attack this game and get into the next round.

Newcastle’s recent record in this stage of the competition is strong, with progression from nine of the last 10 FA Cup fifth-round ties, although Brighton ended that run last season with a 2-1 victory, while two of those nine successful fifth-round matches were against Manchester City in the 1994-95 and 2001-02 campaigns.

This will be the 11th FA Cup meeting between Newcastle and Manchester City, and the Citizens advanced from the two most recent ties at this level, both quarter-finals, in 2019-20 and 2023-24, while history also shows that only Wimbledon in 1987-88 and Arsenal in 2007-08 have knocked Newcastle out of both the EFL Cup and FA Cup in the same season.

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Newcastle vs Manchester City FA Cup match-ups this season

Newcastle and Manchester City know each other well this season, having already faced off four times in all competitions, with Howe’s side losing both legs of the EFL Cup semi-final, suffering a 2-1 league defeat away, yet also winning at St James’ Park in November when Newcastle claimed a home success over Pep Guardiola’s team.

The games have all been close, Howe said of Newcastle’s meetings with City this season. Games we’ve won have been close, games lost have generally been close. We have had chances, but not been clinical enough to win those games. We need to be watertight. They are difficult to pin down in all moments. We want it to be a proper English cup tie that is end-to-end. That will suit us. Getting the crowd involved will suit us.

Howe’s focus on defensive security reflects Manchester City’s attacking variety, yet the head coach also believes an open, end-to-end contest could favour Newcastle, especially with the backing of St James’ Park, where Newcastle seek to extend the boost earned against Manchester United into a sustained upturn across league, FA Cup and Champions League games.

With a demanding schedule across competitions, Newcastle approach the Manchester City FA Cup tie aware of the historical difficulty of this fixture but encouraged by past fifth-round successes and a recent home win over Guardiola’s side, aiming to combine a strong defensive plan with an intense atmosphere to reach the next round.

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