Newcastle United return to St. James’ Park tomorrow, but they will be major underdogs against Manchester City.
Newcastle United are hoping to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa with a positive result against Manchester City, but the odds of that happening are slim. The players certainly wish they can emulate last season’s victory over Pep Guardiola’s side, but it will be extremely difficult.
The loss to Aston Villa stopped the Magpies’ momentum in its tracks. Moreover, losing to a promoted club has also hurt the players’ confidence, and going up against back-to-back league champions who are eager to close the gap with Liverpool will not make life any easier for Steve Bruce and his squad.
Manchester City have experienced their fair share of problems this season, and their overall record of 9-1-3 shows that they can be frustrated, and two of their losses came at the hands of Norwich City and Wolverhampton. It is worth mentioning, though, that the front-line and midfield carried the Canaries and Wolves in those victories. Newcastle United’s goals have been coming from defenders, which is a great asset to have, but Joelinton, Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin need to fill in the stat sheet if the Magpies are to stand a chance against Manchester City.
⏪ #NUFC came from behind to defeat @ManCity last season, with Matt Ritchie scoring this memorable penalty at St. James' Park.
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 28, 2019
Relive that - and some of the Magpies' classic home encounters with City - here: https://t.co/fIzczGJD1J pic.twitter.com/v3pTRbfbdG
For tomorrow’s game, both sets of fans should keep their eyes on Kevin De Bruyne and Allan Saint-Maximin. Both players orchestrate the majority of their teams’ attacks and they have done well to threaten opposing keepers from inside the box and from distance.
Overall, we should expect to see Newcastle United play ultra-defensive football and live off the counter-attack. Manchester City will be forced to break down the Magpies’ stubborn defense, but if they fail to score in the first half this match could turn out to be much more interesting than most people initially assumed.
Our Predictions
The optimism that Carson and I had over the last few weeks hasn’t completely faded, but we think tomorrow’s game will be an insurmountable challenge for Newcastle United. Seeing that Manchester City have not dominated most of their opponents this season, we think Newcastle United can keep the match within reach and avoid a blowout at St. James’ Park.
Carson Merk: Newcastle United 1-3 Manchester City
Durim Halimi: Newcastle United 0-2 Manchester City