Newcastle United will face the best team in the Premier League tomorrow and they can only hope for a positive result.
Newcastle United are currently in the middle of their toughest stretch of the season. After losing to Chelsea last weekend, the Magpies are now preparing for their next challenge against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s men are off to a fine start with seven points from three matches. Rafa Benitez, on the other end, has a lot of work to do as his Magpies are 16th in the table with one point from three matches.
After surprisingly dropping points to Wolverhampton last weekend, Manchester City are expected to play angry football and will look to dominate on Saturday. Newcastle are experiencing a poor run of form after drawing with Cardiff City and recently losing to Chelsea and Nottingham Forest (Carabao Cup).
📸 There are 30 images from today's training session in our latest photo gallery - check it out here: https://t.co/QK3wjtW0OR #NUFC pic.twitter.com/SmTn0rZbAu
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 30, 2018
The match at the Etihad Stadium will kick off at 5:30 P.M. and Newcastle will have to find a way to maintain their composure against a talented opponent in a hostile environment. The key question surrounding Newcastle is will they park the bus for the second straight week or will they try to play toe-to-toe with the defending champions?
Cautious Football
Seeing that Huddersfield Town tried to play an open style against Manchester City on the road and were crushed by a score of 6-1, the most logical expectation one could make is that Newcastle will be defensive. By playing as a defensive bunker, Newcastle will frustrate Manchester City, but they will also enable the Sky Blues to create several chances.
Newcastle’s park the bus tactic almost worked against Chelsea, but Manchester City is even more talented and they possess more pace within their roster. Newcastle will most likely be extra cautious on the road and will live off of the counter-attack offensively.
The Magpies respected Chelsea far too much last weekend and they essentially wasted an opportunity to play confrontational football at home as they did against Tottenham. This weekend, Benitez will do his best to organize a firm defensive front to earn a positive result before hosting Arsenal at home in two weeks.
Final Note
The Magpies are major underdogs in this clash and a draw would be a magnificent result on the road against the defending champions. The timing for this match is horrible for Newcastle as they have been in poor form lately and are facing an angry, superior opponent looking to win big. The outcome of this match will also be dependent on how Newcastle are set up on the field.