Premier League: City and Newcastle in Top Four Tussle

Manchester City vs Newcastle United

After a week of cup football, it’s back to league business, and the Premier League contest between Manchester City and Newcastle United is a blockbuster clash to look forward to on Saturday.

At fifth and sixth in the Premier League table and locked together on 41 points, either team can pass fourth-placed Chelsea with a win. The SBOTOP odds say the Sky Blues will triumph, but Pep Guardiola’s side is not as relentless as in years gone by, and they have a huge European date to cope with before they meet the Magpies.   

Last time out in the league, Manchester City were slapped 5-1 by Arsenal. Since then, they have beaten Leyton Orient in the FA Cup, and then they have an epic Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United lost at home to Fulham in the league last time out before beating Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and Birmingham in the FA Cup.

 

Talking Points

Haaland vs Isak

The race for the 2025 Golden Boot is more competitive than it’s been for a few seasons with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah leading the way with 21 goals and City’s Erling Haaland hot on his heels with 19. Next in line, we see Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak and Nottingham Forest sensation Chris Wood on 17 goals.

With respect to Salah and Wood, who are at the very top of their games, aged 33 and 32, we could see a superb contest between the Scandinavian pair for years to come. Norwegian Haaland is still only 24 years of age, and he’s just signed a contract to keep him at the Etihad for almost a decade while 25-year-old Swede Isak is looking every bit the Premier League striker with 48 goals in 74 appearances, and he is certainly gathering momentum.

These two are modern goal getters with awesome power, pace, and clinical finishing and, at 6’4” each, a nightmare to defend against for a multiple of reasons. With 17 goals from 22 games and five assists compared to Haaland’s 19 from 24 with two assists, I’d say the Newcastle man currently has the edge.         

 

Quick introduction for City’s January reinforcements

Manchester City were unusually busy in the January window, and they blooded all four of their big signings in the win over Leyton Orient. Abdukodir Khusanov, a €40 million signing from RC Lens scored City’s equaliser, while young Brazilian centre-back Vitor Reis also made a start alongside the marquee signing Omar Marmoush, who made a headline switch from Eintracht Frankfurt where he has been scoring for fun.

There was a tricky debut for the fourth signing, defencive midfielder Nico Gonzalez, who was on the end of a robust Orient challenge which forced him off midway through the first half. The manager said he “could not continue,” but Gonzalez was seen with the City substitutes after he had been treated, so it may not be a serious injury. All four could be in contention for the visit of the Magpies, according to the Premier League 2025 updates.

Of course, City have the outcome of their Financial Fair Play case looming large, and Guardiola insists that the club’s spending spree was not in any way linked.   

 

February can shape Newcastle’s run-in

With two cup successes already under their belts in February, the Magpies now face three huge league games, with Nottingham Forest and league leaders Liverpool to come this month. Howe will set out to win all three, but a return of five or six points from that sequence will set Newcastle up nicely with a kinder run of fixtures to come in March.

The return of striker Callum Wilson is timely, as he started his first game of the campaign in the cup win over Birmingham, scoring the goal which gave the Magpies a 2-1 lead. The England international featured in five games from the bench since a hamstring injury in December delayed his return from a long lay-off. Howe will need all the men he can get fit at his disposal and Wilson is a proven match-winner.

 

History

Previous Manchester City vs Newcastle United results point to a home win. The Sky Blues have won 34 of the encounters to Newcastle’s 10 in the Premier League era, and Newcastle have failed to win on any of their last 10 visits to the Etihad Stadium.

When the two teams met in Newcastle in September, the game finished at 1-1 as Anthony Gordon won and scored a controversial penalty to equalise a Josko Gvardiol opener.     

 

Betting Tip

The Premier League 2025 betting odds are firmly behind a home win at a price of 1.66, with the draw at 3.83 and a Newcastle win at 3.78.

There’s a case for backing the Geordies, who have longer to prepare for this huge clash. But the Sky Blues are over their two-month slump, and the Magpies can be cut open, as Birmingham showed on Saturday, and they recently conceded four to Bournemouth and failed to keep a clean sheet against Southampton. I think the Sky Blues will overload their visitors and pick up a crucial win.

   

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