has played down suggestions Sunday’s enormous clash between and Arsenal will be extra fiery as a result of a bad-tempered clash with Mikel Arteta in the reverse fixture.
At the start of January, Newcastle became the first team to take points off the then leaders at home, with a 0-0 draw ending a five-game winning run for the north Londoners.
However, Arsenal dominated the contest, boasting 67% possession in the match and attempting 17 shots to Newcastle’s eight – with just one of those being on target.
In the dying stages of the game, Granit Xhaka hit the byline and crossed into the box, with the ball hitting Jacob Murphy’s arm from close range, and Arsenal’s players – and their manager – were convinced it should have been a penalty.
Howe was not happy with the protestations at the time and clashed with Arteta on the sidelines, though he insists that is water under the bridge now and lauded the job the Spanish coach has done in turning Arsenal into genuine title contenders.
Asked how his relationship with Arteta and the Arsenal coaching staff is now, Howe replied at his pre-match press conference: ‘Fine. I’ve got a lot of respect for Mikel.
‘I think he’s done an incredible job when you consider the team that he picked up and the position they were in to the team that he has now and the way that they’re playing.
‘That’s a brilliant coaching job, you have to admire everything that he’s done, whether that’s recruitment, coaching, everything.
‘So a lot of respect from me to him.
‘Within a game you’ll always have moments where you come up against opponents and there’s a bit of confrontation – I think that’s natural, that’s part of the job – but there’s certainly no issues my side.’
Newcastle are currently in third place and have a six-point cushion to fifth-placed Liverpool – who have played a game more – but Howe insists his side are taking noting for granted in the race to secure Champions League football.
He explained: ‘Nothing’s done, and I didn’t expect it to be done. We’re competing against elite teams who will fight until the end and we have to do the same.
‘So our five games we need to give our best preparation and focus to, because the fight that we’re in could go right down to the end of the season.’
Specifically on the threat of Liverpool, who have won five games on the bounce, Howe added: ‘I don’t lose any sleep over it, but I’m aware that Liverpool are a top team. We’re not focusing on that. We haven’t done that all season. We haven’t focused on where we are, who’s around us, the form of teams. We’ve just focused on ourselves.’
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