Ruud van Nistelrooy said his first week in charge of Leicester City was “hectic”, but insisted a more measured approach will be taken moving forward to ensure the Foxes' Premier League survival.
Van Nistelrooy was confirmed as Steve Cooper’s successor earlier this month and has had a fine start to his Foxes tenure, earning a win over West Ham and a late point against Brighton last time out.
But up next for the Dutchman is his first away English top-flight fixture in management away to Newcastle United, and despite his promising start, he was not looking at the table at this early stage just yet.
"It’s been a hectic week,” Van Nistelrooy said. "New ideas, two games played, training sessions to prepare.
"Massive compliments to everybody at Leicester for welcoming me, for helping in any way possible and for the players to connect with each other in the new set-up. It’s been a great week.
"I don’t think we have to look at the table and how many points. It’s good that we take four points ourselves and that’s the focus. We take the four points, and the players put in great performances as a team and as individuals.
"That is the target moving forward, and we’re going to approach every game like that."
Newcastle, meanwhile, were beaten by Brentford last Saturday as their inconsistent season continued with another tepid display on the road.
Coming into this weekend’s clash, the Magpies have lost three of their last six Premier League away games (W1 D2), while in all competitions they are winless in four games (D2 L2).
They have only suffered longer such runs under Eddie Howe in January 2022 (six games) and March 2023 (five games), with the Newcastle boss highlighting his side’s poor play in defence against the Bees as pivotal to the defeat.
"We are disappointed with the manner of goals we conceded. It’s not individual mistakes, there's two or three actions I'm not happy with for each goal. We have to do better in those situations," Howe said.
"We had control of the game in the first half, then it got away from us after the third goal. We looked like a good attacking unit, but we have to put it all together, and it has led to inconsistent results.
Newcastle are now without a win in their last four Premier League games, dropping them to 12th in the table, with Howe unable to put his finger on his side’s inconsistency this term.
"A strange sequence for us, we had three consecutive wins against really good opponents, then we have had mixed performances. We have to get it over the line," Howe said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Newcastle – Alexander Isak
Isak has been involved in 24 Premier League goals for the club in 2024 (19 goals, five assists), the most by a Newcastle player in a year since Alan Shearer in 2002 (27 goals, four assists).
The only Magpies players to score 20+ goals in a year are Shearer (22 in 1999, 27 in 2002) and Andrew Cole (24 in 1994).
Leicester – Jamie Vardy
Vardy has been involved in seven goals in his last seven Premier League appearances (four goals, three assists), including at least one in his last three. He could become the oldest player to score or assist in four consecutive top-flight outings if he does so at St. James’ Park.
At 37-years-old, the Foxes man continues to prove that age is just a number. He has six goals and three assists in the Premier League this season and could become just the fifth player aged 37+ to have a hand in 10 goals in a single season.
The other players to achieve this are Teddy Sheringham in 2003-04 (nine goals, four assists), Gary Speed in 2006-07 (eight goals, two assists), Ryan Giggs in 2011-12 (two goals, eight assists) and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021-22 (10 goals).
MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE WIN
Newcastle have lost just one of their last 21 Premier League meetings with promoted sides (W12 D8), going down 1-0 at Luton Town last season.
However, the Magpies have won just one of their last seven Premier League home games against Leicester (D1 L5), though both times they’ve avoided defeat have come under Howe.
But they have shipped 3+ goals in each of their last two Premier League games, last doing so in three games in a row in December and January last season. The Magpies have done so on 10 occasions in 2024, only doing so more often in 2021 (12) and 2014 (11) in a single year.
This is Van Nistelrooy’s seventh game in charge of a Premier League side in all competitions this season, but the first time he’s managed a game away from home.
In his playing career, the Dutchman played five games at St James’ Park and scored in every single game, the joint best 100% scoring ratio by a player at a venue, along with Foxes striker Vardy at the Hawthorns.
And the Foxes have enjoyed recent trips to the North East. They have won six Premier League away games against Newcastle, more than they have versus any other opponent. Five of these victories have come in their last seven visits to St James’ Park.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Newcastle – 67.2%
Draw – 18%
Leicester – 14.8%
Guardiola questioning himself as Man City struggles continue
Pep Guardiola is questioning himself amid Manchester City's dire run of form, though he disagreed with Ilkay Gundogan's criticism of their performance against Juventus.
City are at risk of missing out on a Champions League play-off place after slipping to a 2-0 defeat in Turin on Wednesday, a result that leaves them 22nd in the 36-team table.
City have now lost seven of their last 10 matches across all competitions (one win, two draws), as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 105.
Since the start of November, meanwhile, they have conceded more goals across all competitions than any other team from Europe's top five leagues (21 in nine matches).
Following a 4-1 loss to Sporting CP and a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord, Guardiola has failed to win three straight Champions League group-stage games for the first time in his managerial career, while 2014-15 was the last time City endured a longer such run (four without winning).
Guardiola admits he is second guessing his own methods, but he insists City played well enough to warrant a result in Italy, saying: "Of course I question myself but I'm stable in good moments and bad moments.
"I try to find a way to do it. I'm incredibly honest. If we play good, I say we played good and today I thought we played good."
After the match, midfielder Gundogan told TNT Sports that City were "careless" in duels and were conceding too many dangerous attacks.
But with City enjoying 68.9% of the possession against Juventus and more than doubling the Bianconeri's tallies for touches in the box (34 to 13) and final-third entries (59 to 24), Guardiola remains content with many aspects of their performance.
"I am not agreeing with Ilkay," Guardiola said. "Of course it is tough but, except one or two games in this period, we've played good.
"Our game will save us. We can do it. We conceded few chances compared to the Nottingham Forest game that we won. We're making the right tempo.
"We missed the last pass, did not arrive in the six-yard box or have the composure at the right moment.
"But I love my team. This is life, it happens. Sometimes you have a bad period, but I'm going to insist until we're there."
Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge will be City's final two opponents in the first phase of the Champions League, as they visit France on January 22 before hosting the Belgians one week later.
Schlotterbeck injury is a 'complete disaster' for Dortmund, says Sahin
Borussia Dortmund have added defender Nico Schlotterbeck to their ever-growing injury list after he turned his ankle during their 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The news of Schlotterbeck's injury comes just a day after head coach Nuri Sahin said Niklas Sule would be a long-term absentee, while Waldemar Anton is also unavailable.
Sahin said Schlotterbeck's absence would be a major blow after he was injured in the final move of the game while putting a header over in an attempt to equalise.
The 25-year-old was taken off the pitch on a stretcher and Sahin did not hold back when asked about the potential impact of his absence.
"It would be a complete disaster if he was also sidelined," Sahin said. "I don't have a diagnosis yet but obviously he is completely dejected.
"I saw the images and they are horrible. We will have a sleepless night tonight and then we will have to see how it develops tomorrow."
Dortmund's injury list has stretched to as many as 10 players at points this season and has taken its toll on their results.
The German side are currently sixth in the Bundesliga, 12 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
The defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday, meanwhile, saw them drop to ninth in the Champions League table – one place outside the automatic last-16 qualifying spots.
"I am fuming because we played well," said Sahin. "We have to win these games. We deserved more in the second half.
"I do not want to hear that we played a good game. There is no room for mistakes and we have to learn that.
"We keep up with these top teams but in the end I want to sit here and say, 'we won the game'. That is the development we need."
Ashworth's shock exit 'not the best situation', says Amorim
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has acknowledged the departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth is "not the best situation".
Ashworth had spent just 159 days with the club before his surprise exit was announced on Sunday, although Amorim believes the club's vision for the future remains unchanged.
"The first thing I want to say is that, since the first day, I felt great support from the ownership," said Amorim, who took charge on November 11.
"From Omar [Berrada, chief executive], from Dan also, from Jason [Wilcox, technical director]. Dan was part of that, and I really felt support from Dan also.
"But this is football and sometimes these things happen. It happens with players, with coaches.
"I know that it's not the best situation but the important thing is we continue in our way. The path is really clear for everybody and I think this can happen in football."
Amorim himself has only been in the job at Old Trafford for one month, having won two and drawn one of his five matches in charge in all competitions.
During the same press conference, he was asked whether he felt that the club was more unstable than when he had arrived last month.
"I don't think so," he said. "I've felt since day one the support from everybody, so one person leaving doesn't change anything.
"Of course, it's a bad situation, because we are talking about a human being, a professional, that supports us as a team.
"But I think the most important thing is that your vision is really clear and that vision doesn't change if only one person leaves."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
