STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Sat: Newcastle v Manchester City

Manchester City have had an eventful week but they will be pleased with their work in hindsight, and they can end it with victory at Newcastle, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

It’s been a whirlwind week for the Blues, who snatched a draw with title rivals Arsenal and then had just a 49-hour turnaround before a team of young talents – and some returning stars – beat Watford in the League Cup.

A serious injury to Rodri is a massive blow for Pep Guardiola, but with the return of Ilkay Gundogan to the fold and a strong start to the season from Mateo Kovacic, plus the ever-present Bernardo Silva and new signing Savinho, City have plenty of midfield options and they’ve made a pretty good start to proceedings.

In the grand scheme of things City will be pleased enough to avoid defeat against Inter in the Champions League and Arsenal in the Premier League, and whilst their third round EFL tie against Watford came at an incredibly inconvenient time, it did give Pep Guardiola a chance to get minutes into the legs of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, John Stones and Matheus Nunes to boot.

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Newcastle v Manchester City
Premier League
St James’s Park, Newcastle
Kick-Off: 12:30
Live on TNT Sports 1 HD / TNT Sports Ultimate / Discovery +

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
MAR 2024 ENGLISH FA CUP Man City 2-0 Newcastle
JAN 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle 2-3 Man City
SEP 2023 CARABAO CUP Newcastle 1-0 Man City
AUG 2023 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 1-0 Newcastle
MAR 2023 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 2-0 Newcastle

NEWCASTLE
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Fulham 3-1 Newcastle
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Wolves 1-2 Newcastle
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham
AUG 2024 CARABAO CUP Nottm Forest 1-1 Newcastle (Newcastle won 4-3 on pens)
AUG 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Bournemouth 1-1 Newcastle

MANCHESTER CITY
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 2-2 Arsenal
SEP 2024 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Man City 0-0 Inter
SEP 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 2-1 Brentford
AUG 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE West Ham 1-3 Man City
AUG 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 4-1 Ipswich

⭐ NEWCASTLE V MANCHESTER CITY MATCH MARKETS ⭐

Newcastle sit in sixth, just three points behind City, after the opening five weekends of the season, although they were very lucky not to lose at Bournemouth when a late VAR intervention saved them from defeat, and last week they deservedly lost 3-1 at Fulham when they Eddie Howe admitted after the match that their error-strewn loss to Fulham was the “worst we have played.”

Harvey Barnes (goals in his last three games), Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon have all shown signs of their best this season but a few of the Magpies’ aren’t finding their best form and they’re conceding a lot of opportunities.

Newcastle have conceded 10 or more shots in their last 26 Premier League fixtures, with only Manchester United and West Ham facing more shots on average since December. We haven’t seen the best of Newcastle’s midfield and defence, with Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock looking all sea against Fulham’s movement and pace last week as Newcastle slumped to a two-goal deficit, and they will need to improve quickly if they are to deal with City on Saturday.

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