Newcastle is expected to join Guardiola's team in the Champions League competition next season as he seeks to win his first Champions League at Man City. The Magpies need just one victory to secure a top-four finish and, for the first time in 20 years, qualify for the Champions League.
With two games left, Newcastle's 4-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday night at St. James' Park allowed them to maintain third place in the Premier League and pull four points ahead of Liverpool in fifth.
The Magpies would secure a top-four finish with a win over Leicester City on Monday night or a Liverpool loss to Aston Villa on Saturday. Additionally, Newcastle would defy the 'big six' trend in the Premier League by finishing at least fifth.
Since Newcastle's last appearance in the competition, only six other English teams—Man City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea—have advanced to the Champions League group stage.
The 'top six' clubs have faced major challenges this season from Newcastle, Brighton, and Aston Villa, changing the dynamics of the standings.
Newcastle was mentioned by Guardiola when evaluating the strength of the Premier League, and he stated that they "deserve" to participate in the Champions League next year.
“The feeling is that the top six, we invite one or two more teams to sit on the table,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference.
“Newcastle is there already, they are one game away to qualify for the Champions League next season. I saw their game against Brighton, with the energy they played, it was wow! Newcastle deserve to be there."
“For what they have done this season, they deserve to be there so there are more people in the Premier League [top six]. So I can not say this one [title race v Arsenal] was more difficult or easier than the other ones, it’s always so difficult.”
Newcastle needs just one victory from their final two Premier League contests against Chelsea and Leicester City in order to finish in the top four.
And Albion manager De Zerbi deserves every bit of credit for ending their 20-year hiatus from Europe's top league.
“Newcastle deserve to qualify for the Champions League,” said the Italian.. They won against Man United 2-0 and they deserved to win and in the first half with Arsenal they were unlucky.
“They are a strong team, a very good team. Difficult for us, especially today because we weren’t with many powerful players with energy.”
On the game, De Zebri added: “We deserved to lose the game. I don’t want to make any excuses. I think we play not good in the first half and deserved to lose the game. We concede two goals in two set-pieces but we didn’t play well."
“We know we stay in not the best condition, we have a lot of injuries, but we have the possibility to win on Sunday and before the game [against Newcastle we knew] it was a very tough game.”
"We knew before the game that it was difficult and we have to forget this day and prepare for the next game. It is a very important game in our stadium with our fans and we have to forget.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp also concurs with the former Shaktar Donesk manager as he believes both the Tynesiders and Manchester United would play in the UEFA Champions League next campaign.
“I expect United and Newcastle to win all their games, that means we have to win all our games anyway to keep distance to the teams behind us – that’s the first thing we have to be concerned about. If not, then we will see what happens.”
After winning their game-in-hand match against fifth-place Liverpool, Eddie Howe's team closed the gap on Liverpool to three points, securing their place in the Champions League.
Deniz Undav's own goal gave United the early advantage before Dan Burn, playing against his former team, doubled the advantage just before halftime.
Undav gave the Seagulls a chance to tie it up, but goals from Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes in the dying minutes gave them a commanding lead.
Liverpool's recent six-game winning streak has put them into the mix for a European spot after a season that was much below par by their standards.
Although they will currently have to settle for the Europa League, they are undoubtedly putting pressure on Newcastle and Manchester United, who have both recently suffered setbacks.
There are still three games left for United, two of which are at home, where they haven't lost in the league since the first day of the season, and one away.
Erik ten Hag has already won one title, and a second final is coming up in June, which is a notable improvement over the usual at Old Trafford. Without securing their spot in the Champions League, he, the players, and the fans won't truly feel that the season was a success.
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