Eddie Howe and Newcastle United are carrying real momentum into 2025 beating Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford on Monday.
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Alexander Isak and Joelinton scored as Newcastle claimed a fifth straight win to end 2024 on a high and head into the new year sitting fifth in the table at the midway point in the campaign.
Despite another impressive display from his side, Howe’s focus quickly moves on to the trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
“I don't know about the win being a statement but for us we knew that we have to try to keep building on the momentum that we had built in recent weeks,” Howe said. “We have had a really good look about us, a strong, confident team and I am happy we were able to continue that at a ground that hasn't been kind to Newcastle over the years. It is a big win psychologically.
“The direction of travel is to Tottenham now. We have a run of tough away games with Arsenal after that. We will try to enjoy them and approach them in the same way that we approached this one.
"Time will tell. We have to prove everything. There is the talent in the squad to match that one [the team that qualified for the Champions League] but we have to get the points.”
Newcastle head into January with the expectation of a quiet transfer window both in terms of incomings and outgoings. And Howe has once again stressed his desire to keep his squad together amid an impressive run of form.
"The first thing is to keep the players that we have [in the transfer window],” Howe told Sky Sports. “We have a good balance to the team and the squad and we don't want to lose anyone. We have people fighting for places and we don't want to disturb that."
Newcastle will have to make changes defensively for their upcoming matches against Spurs and Arsenal with Fabian Schar suspended for both matches due to the yellow cards he has accumulated. Lloyd Kelly is poised to come into the side while Sven Botman is closing in on a return after nine months out.
"We will have to shuffle things with Fabian [Schar]’s suspension but I am hoping that we will still find a way to defend well."