Newcastle United: 5 Ways To Beat Manchester City

Boss Midfield

If you look at City's defeats in the Premiership this season, somewhat hearteningly for Newcastle they have all come away from the Ettihad, and even more importantly, four of the five sides who have overcome Mancini's team have been teams who like to play through midfield, and build attacks around attacking midfielders. Only Newcastle's north east rivals Sunderland triumphed despite not playing football... Chelsea (A) Sunderland (A) Everton (A) Swansea (A) Arsenal (A) There is no sense trying to sit back and soak up attacks, and a gung-ho bias towards attacking play will end with nothing less than the same kind of result as the Wigan game, but if Newcastle can get Yohan Cabaye on the ball as much as possible, with Tiote and Gutierrez offering support behind him (should Pardew go with the 4-3-2-1 formation he appears to favour at home these days) they will have a good chance of allowing the front three to prosper. The biggest battle on that pitch tomorrow is likely to be between international team-mates Yaya Toure and Cheick Tiote, and if Tiote stops Toure playing the same way he stopped Wayne Rooney opening up play in Manchester United's game at St James Park, we might well see a similar result to that famous 3-0 victory.

Play James Perch

Largely ridiculed in his first season at Newcastle, James Perch could have been forgiven for disappearing off the radar and sloping off to a Championship club to rebuild his reputation on a smaller stage, but the man Chris Hughton signed from Nottingham Forest as competition for the full-back positions has knuckled down, and taken instructions on board to become one of the heroes of the latter stages of Newcastle's season. He has played in four positions - centre midfield, centre-half and both full-backs - and has looked assured and measured in every one of them, a far cry from the player who managed to pick up five bookings in his first five Newcastle games to claim an unwanted record. Perch has also played a crucial role in Newcastle's run of form recently: in the last eight games, a run which included just one defeat, Perch has played in every victory bar one (he came on in the 60th minute against Stoke), and it is no coincidence that he didn't play in the 0-4 loss away to Wigan. In that run of games, Perch has largely been a revelation, gaining a tough-tackling, uncompromising reputation as a ball-winning and passing defensive player, measured on his feet and clever in a tackle, and with him in the team Newcastle look stronger as a defensive unit. Hopefully, he will get the nod to play at right-back ahead of the recently injured Danny Simpson, and he will continue to be Newcastle's lucky charm.

Get Hatem Ben Arfa On The Ball

Newcastle's midfield three of Jonas Gutierrez, Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote have largely been a revelation since their team went to White Hart Lane and were handed a thrashing from Harry's Spurs (aside from the Wigan blip), but the key to turning their possession and defensive nouse into more progressive play comes from the French wizard who Newcastle unthinkably acquired for just £2m. Hatem Ben Arfa has do anything with a football, and as a Newcastle United fan, it has been particularly enjoyable to see him hitting his potential this year after picking up that awful injury last year against Man City. He also has the power to unlock the best of Newcastle's attacking threat, whether running with the ball and changing the shape of the team or putting in some delicious crosses for the twin aerial threat of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse. If he has a good game tomorrow - and you suspect he will want to given the cirumstances of his injury - Newcastle will have a very good game.

Stick To The Game Plan

The biggest lesson Newcastle can have from both their own, and Man City's last game is to stay true to their own on-pitch agenda, and have the confidence to stick with the game plan that has got them into the incredible position they now find themselves in. Manchester United paid for their own attempt to adapt to Man City, and to play for a draw with the loss of three points and removal from the top of the league. Newcastle have got into fifth, within a hair's breadth of qualifying for Europe's premiere cup competition next year thanks to playing their own way - yes Pardew has tinkered in games that weren't going so well - but most of the time the black and whites play exactly as they want to, with the impetus on ball retention and creating avenues for Cisse, Ba and Ben Arfa to do the damage in the final third.

Bring Shola On

There is no more maligned a player in the modern history of Newcastle United than formr England U21 striker Shola Ameobi: almost every season he suffers criticism from elements of the crowd who mistake his languid style for laziness, and his lack of pace for arrogant antipathy to the cause. But Shola bleeds black and white - along with Steven Taylor he is the only real Geordie left in the first team squad (aside from a few youngsters) and he knows exactly what it means to a Newcastle fan to win. But that is not why he is a valuable substitute: this season, Shola has come on to the field around the 70 minute mark in a position typically deeper than he has traditionally played, and with some success. Whatever the result, we are probably all guaranteed a great game tomorrow afternoon. Let's just hope the right result happens.