Rafa Benitez believes Brendan Rodgers has done a good job at Leicester City so far after lifting the Foxes from a mid-season dip.
The former Celtic manager has guided City to four wins in a row in the Premier League and all of a sudden they are pushing for a Europa League spot.
United head to the King Power Stadium on the back of two defeats, and when asked about facing the in-form top-flight side, Benitez said: "Brendan has done well, they were already a good team.
"They change the manager to bring in a manager who knows the players and league.
"When you win the next game is good as you have more confidence, they are doing well and it will be a tough game for us."
Newcastle lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace last Saturday but Benitez insists his squad are in good spirits.
He said: "This group train well and work hard and they care.
"We have to keep pushing and don’t play with any complacency and do what we did for so many months to make the last run is fine.
"We want that one win to move forward and I said before 39 points could be enough – now maybe not.
"For us, we can only try and win this and the rest of these things will follow.
"We have to do our job on Friday and go as high as we can."
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