Newcastle United midfielder Mo Diame has boldly claimed that his side can beat anybody in the league on their day.
The Magpies face Manchester United on Wednesday at St. James’ Park, and the Senegalese international believes that his team are good enough to cause an upset.
As quoted in the Chronicle, the 31-year-old said: “We know we can beat any team in this league. It’s just about being ready showing the right attitude, and that’s it.
“When we are doing the good things as we were doing last year, we’re a team who can beat any team. It’s just about being ready.
“We know we are capable of having a good game and winning against Man United at home. We know that.
“We have to make sure we’re ready and start the game on top of them and use the atmosphere, because we know the fans are always here to push us. It’s going to be an important game.”
OPINION
If nothing else, Diame’s optimism is admirable. One of the much lauded cliche’s of English football is that anybody can beat anybody in the Premier League, and it’s nice to see him buying into that belief, but the reality is that teams like Newcastle rarely beat teams like Man United, especially when United are playing as well as they are at the moment. The Magpies look more resolute than they did this time three months ago, and they nearly snatched a result at Old Trafford earlier in the season to their credit, but the recent 4-0 defeat to Liverpool served as a timely reminder of just how ineffective their defence can still be when faced with the big guns. United don’t like it on Tyneside, and haven’t won there since March 2015, but it will take something special, and a complete change in their recent fortunes, for the Toon Army to come away with anything here.