Liverpool host Newcastle 11 points clear at the top of the table.
Howe said, "We need to be close to a perfect game from our perspective.
"Learning from the recent game against Manchester City would be a good starting point for us where we didn't execute the agressive gameplan that we wanted and we dodn't attack the game well enough.
"We need to learn from that at Anfield which is a great environment to play football in but not good if you're not totally there.
"We have to acknowledge that and make sure we turn up. Psychologically it's huge. It's an emotional stadium, we're going to need to start well, and we need to have a threat in the game."
On Newcastle's battle for consistency, Howe concedes they're yet to find a solution.
Newcastle go to Liverpool having beaten Nottingham Forest 4-3 on Sunday after being 4-1 ahead at halftime.
Howe continued: "It's been there all season to a degree. There's been games we've been frustrated at ourselves. But, when you hear the statistic of 13 wins out of 16 that's not an inconsistent team. I'd certainly take that again in the next 16 games.
"I try to be very honest and acknowledge we have been inconsistent at times and Sunday reflected that."
On defending against an in-form Mohamed Salah, Howe is confident they have a defensive system capable of blunting the Egyptian's attacking threat.
He added, "That's going to be a challenge for us. It's always not down to any one individual in the team, although he will naturally come up against one opponent, it's about the team supporting that area of the pitch.
"I think against Arsenal at home in the Carabao Cup is a great game to reflect on. We defended in twos, threes, fours. We had a mentality that we wanted to defend our goal to the highest level.
"I don't think we've consistently had that in recent weeks but we're going to need that in this game."