Newcastle United vs Manchester City Preview

The Premier League returns this weekend with Newcastle United hosting defending champions Manchester City this Saturday evening.

The hosts are looking to return to winning ways in the league after a poor run of form over the festive period where they lost all three of their Premier League matches to drop further from the European spots and deeper into mid-table. Those losses included two away defeats and a shocking loss to Nottingham Forest at home.

The Magpies did secure a much-needed 3-0 victory over rivals Sunderland in the FA Cup last week, though, with manager Eddie Howe calling it “a step in the right direction” ahead of the visit of Manchester City.

Having beaten the Cityzens 1-0 in the League Cup at St James’ Park earlier this season, Eddie Howe’s side knows they have what it takes to trouble their opponents against whom they also drew 3-3 here in August 2022.

Yet even that record won’t see them taking anything for granted after recently losing their record of seven straight home league wins against Forest on Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, Man City made it five consecutive wins in all competitions last time out when they swatted aside Championship side Huddersfield in the FA Cup. Pep Guardiola’s side scored five unreplied goals, with injury returnees Jeremy Doku and Kevin de Bruyne having a massive impact.

They will now look to build on those wins and close the gap on table-topping Liverpool who they trail by five points, albeit with a game in hand. So, a win here would keep them in touch and could be ominous as City are renowned for their ability to build late-season momentum.

Their record of three wins across their last seven league away games (D1, L3) doesn’t look good given their high standards. Still, the visitors have scored an average of 2.4 goals per game across their last five top-flight road fixtures (W3, D1, L1), so they’ll be hard to stop as they look to continue their fine start to 2024.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table