Newcastle boss Eddie Howe claims his side can continue to get better despite a run of five consecutive wins.
That run has sent them up to fifth in the Premier League and into the EFL Cup semi-finals.
Howe’s team have beaten Leicester City, Brentford, Ipswich Town, Aston Villa and Manchester United on that run, scoring 16 goals and conceding just one.
A trip to Tottenham on Saturday is next, and the Magpies’ manager is clear that his team are not yet at full tilt.
He said: “There’s always room to improve, I do genuinely believe that. There’s more to come.
“We are playing a lot better, the cohesion in the team has been really strong. Players are playing with confidence and freedom and expressing themselves in a great way.
“But as the challenges go up, we will need to deliver more. These next games we have coming up will challenge us more and we are going to have to respond in a positive way.”
For the first time in 2025! pic.twitter.com/kPA2uI1gHp
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) January 2, 2025
Newcastle have come up against Tottenham 59 times in the Premier League era and never drawn 0-0, the most played fixture in the competition’s history to always feature a goal.
And having achieved a Premier League double over Spurs in just one of the 12 campaigns between 2008-09 and 2021-22, Howe’s side could now do so in two of the last three.
There will be even more incentive for the likes of Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon to perform, with England head coach Thomas Tuchel set to make this the first game he attends since officially starting the role on January 1.
Howe said: “I’m sure the players will be aware of that but for me it’s irrelevant.
“It’s us against Tottenham and we’ve got to make sure we turn up in the same place that we were against Manchester United, on the front foot and try and deliver a good performance.”
There is more good news on the injury front for Newcastle, too, with defender Sven Botman having recovered from an ACL injury and available to play for the first time since March 2024.
Howe said: “He’s worked incredibly hard to get himself in a good condition. He’s had three games and a lot of internal training as well. He’s certainly in and around my thoughts.
“I’ll have to make a decision on who I think best fits that position.
“We’ve taken longer than maybe we normally would have done. He had to try and make sure he has the best chance of staying fit when he comes back, hitting the ground running, which is absolutely vital.”
