Newcastle United play Manchester City at the worst time
By Durim Halimi
Newcastle United will have their hands full this weekend when they travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City on Saturday.
After struggling against Chelsea at St. James’ Park last weekend, Newcastle United are preparing for an even more difficult match at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City. This clash will see two top managers on the sideline, but the disparity between rosters will surely cause problems for Newcastle.
The Magpies have not fully failed to impress this season as they played great football against a strong Tottenham side on opening day. However, Rafa Benitez’s men have been playing inconsistent, cautious football in their two last matches.
Manchester City started the season well with a 2-0 win over Arsenal on the road and a 6-1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town at home. In their third match, however, a controversial goal from Wolverhampton, which should have been disallowed, enabled Wolves to steal a point from the Cityzens.
An Angry Manchester City
For most teams, starting the season with seven points after three matches would generate a sense of optimism among players and supporters. That is not the case for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. The defending champions were the superior side in every match this season and they will certainly look to dominate against Newcastle after failing to defeat a newly-promoted side last weekend.
Newcastle were in this situation last season when they played standard members of the top six after their opponents experienced poor runs of form. Unfortunately, those clubs found ways to rebound with big victories against Newcastle by scoring three or more goals.
The fact that Newcastle have to travel to the Etihad Stadium only makes things worse. Manchester City will feed off of the energy of their home supporters and will look to remind the league that they aim to win their second consecutive title.
Newcastle United: No Identity
Like the start of last season, Newcastle are still trying to figure out who they are in the early stages of the 2018-19 campaign. The drop in form since the match against Tottenham demonstrates that the Magpies struggle with consistency and forming a team identity.
It took Newcastle several months until they developed consistency in the second half of last season, and it looks like that will be the case once again. Over the course of three matches, Newcastle have only completed an alarming 892 passes as a team.
Without a proper passing rhythm, Newcastle’s offensive efficiency will continue to struggle and the back-line will have to prepare for more work during matches. Manchester City is primarily known for their entertaining offense which scored 106 goals last term, but their defense is solid as they only conceded 27 goals on their title run.
Final Verdict
Those viewing this match will either witness a Newcastle that will continue to park the bus as they did on Sunday or a Newcastle side that will risk an open game by trying to attack. Seeing that Newcastle have another tough test in Arsenal after this match, I expect Newcastle to be cautious in this affair and solely aim for a point on the road.
Match Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Newcastle United