Manchester City v Newcastle United: Preview, Team News and Prediction

Round three of the Premier League sees Manchester City head north to take on Newcastle United at St James’s Park, where victory should take the blues back to the top of the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola’s team have made a perfect start to their season, two wins from two games with six goals scored and none conceded.

The Sky Blues triumphed over the newly promoted Bournemouth as they defeated them with a score of 4-0. Whereas, the Magpies could only come back with a single point as they were held off in a scoreless draw against Brighton.

Team News

Pep Guardiola confirmed that City’s latest signing, left-back Sergio Gomez is up to speed and available for Sunday’s game. The Blues are operating at close to full strength, with Kalvin Phillips and Cole Palmer available for the weekend too, after worries and niggles kept them excluded from last week’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth.

“Everyone is okay” were the manager’s words on Friday, but this obviously excludes Aymeric Laporte, whose knee injury is holding him back, seemingly until after the September international break.

So what can we expect the Manchester City team vs Newcastle to be?

Predicted XI:

Ederson; Walker, Stones, Ruben Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Foden, Haaland, Grealish.

Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Manchester City have a slight edge over Newcastle United and have won 74 out of the 186 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Newcastle United’s 72 victories.
• Newcastle United have won only one of their last 29 matches against Manchester City in the Premier League, with their previous victory coming in 2019.
• Manchester City are on a five-game winning streak against Newcastle United and have scored at least four goals in each of their last three matches against the Magpies.
• Manchester City have found the back of the net in their last 27 Premier League matches against Newcastle United – the longest scoring streak by one team against another opponent in the history of the competition.
• Newcastle United and Manchester City are the only two teams that are yet to concede a goal in the Premier League this season.
• Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 19 Premier League away games and could achieve the sixth different streak of 20 unbeaten matches on the road in the competition.

Prediction

Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle

Venue: St. James Park, Newcastle, England

Time and Date: Sunday 21 August 2022, Kickoff at 16:30 BST, 11.30 am (EST, USA)

Referee: Jarred Gillett.

Assistants: Lee Betts, Ian Hussin.

Fourth official: Tony Harrington.

VAR: Peter Bankes.

Assistant VAR: Marc Perry.

TV Info: Sky Sports (UK), Peacock (USA), DAZN (Canada), Hotstar VIP (India), Paramount+ (Mexico), SuperSport (Nigeria)