Manchester City is a tough test for any team in the world, but for Eddie Howe, they’re a true tempest that Howe has very, very rarely been able to get the better of.

In the 20 games the boss has managed against the Cityzens, he’s only been able to win on one occasion: against Pep Guardiola’s side in the 2023/24 Carabao Cup, courtesy of a goal from Alexander Isak at St James’ Park.

Heading into tonight’s 5.30pm kick-off, there is hope we’ll see a big response from recent defeats and some tweaks to the side after two weeks of work over the international break. And Alan Shearer expects just that ahead of the game.

Shearer backs Howe to mix it up

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Alan Shearer is backing Eddie Howe to mix it up against Man City tonight, whether that’s a few changes or a different system.

Wanting to bounce back from losses against Brighton, West Ham and Brentford, as well as build momentum ahead of our next Champions League game against Marseille on Tuesday, many of us, Shearer included, will be anticipating some fresh faces in Howe’s line-up.

“Yeah, the league has been (bad), particularly away from home, disappointing. And my guess is you might see one or two changes, whether that’s a change of system, whether that’s a change of one or two personnel this weekend, because you can’t keep on going and doing the same thing. And he’s not that daft to do that.

Shearer also recognised that many fans are right to feel frustrated with our recent run of form, which has led to media speculation over Howe’s position as manager.

But he feels any talk that Howe could be given his marching orders shouldn’t be considered for a very, very long time, insisting the board ‘will not panic’ anytime soon, and rightly so:

“We know the rules of football, but surely he’s got so much in the bank. What he’s done for Newcastle when others couldn’t do it. When you mention some of the brilliant managers that Newcastle had, then no, not for me, not for a long time.

“I think the board will not panic. They will look at what he’s done in the past and they will look at their Champions League form. They will look at the fact they’re already in the quarter-finals of the Carabao again.

“But no, not for a long time for me, Eddie, because of what he’s achieved at Newcastle.”

Who could come in?

The general consensus seems to be that now is the perfect time for Aaron Ramsdale to finally get some Premier League minutes in black and white stripes, mainly owing to Nick Pope’s poor display and subsequent injury during the trip to the GTech Community Stadium.

Admittedly, there’s perhaps no bigger baptism by fire than having to play against Erling Haaland, but Ramsdale’s prior performances have showed promising signs that he will do more than fine in between the sticks.

The defence is somewhere we can also expect some changes, if any, to be made. Dan Burn is suspended, opening the door for Lewis Hall to come in, you would think.

Would it be that big of a surprise to see Fabian Schar return to the starting XI too? We’ll need all of the defensive coverage we can get if we want to stop Erling Haaland, so it would not be a major shock if we switched to a back three.