![\"\"](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Eddie-Howe-75cd.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
\t<\/div>Eddie Howe has warned Arsenal that Manchester City are getting back to their best form under Pep Guardiola after Newcastle United\u2019s FA Cup exit.<\/p>\n
City ran out deserving 3-1 winners over Newcastle in the FA Cup fifth round at St James\u2019 Park on Saturday night to secure their place in the quarter-final draw.<\/p>\n
Harvey Barnes had given Newcastle the lead in the 18th minute but City equalised through Savinho before a second-half double from Omar Marmoush sealed the win for Guardiola\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, City currently sit seven points behind Arsenal in the Premier League table after they were held at home to a 2-2 draw by Nottingham Forest earlier this week.<\/p>\n
But Howe believes City are now hitting top form and claims Guardiola\u2019s side have been \u2018the best team\u2019 Newcastle have faced this season.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think that they [City] made changes to their team but I think you see the strength in depth that they have and they possess,\u2019 Howe said after Newcastle\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n Metro<\/strong>‘s Head of Sport James Goldman delivers punchy analysis, transfer talk and his take on the week’s biggest stories direct to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n Sign up here, it’s an open goal.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018I think that was probably a step too far for us today against them when they\u2019re in that mood, I thought they were excellent and we fell away in the game.<\/p>\n \u2018We seemed to lose our energy but they do that to you because they keep the ball so well, they make you run, they make you chase, then you\u2019re tired and you make another technical mistake and you\u2019re chasing again.<\/p>\n \u2018They\u2019ve done that for years. That\u2019s why, for me, they\u2019ve been the best team that we\u2019ve continually faced and today I thought they were in a really good place and we just fell out of energy.<\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t think it was necessarily a tactical problem for us, it was more the way they play and how good they are technically. They took a stranglehold of the ball and when we got it back we gave it away too easily, maybe looking too vertical and not horizontal enough at times.<\/p>\n \u2018Then as soon as you make a technical mistake against them you\u2019re not seeing the ball again for long periods and then your energy just drains away.<\/p>\n \u2018That\u2019s why they\u2019ve been the best team for so long and I think they\u2019re coming back into the type of form that makes them that team again. They\u2019re evolving into a different version of what they\u2019ve been before but very, very effective.\u2019<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on ![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_288358597-78ef.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
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