Man City v Newcastle Tips – Premier League, 20 Jan 2018

Man City v Newcastle Head to Head Record

• Newcastle 0-1 Man City – 27th Dec 2017, Premier League
• Newcastle 1-1 Man City – 4th Apr 2016, Premier League
• Man City 6-1 Newcastle – 3rd Oct 2015, Premier League
• Man City 5-0 Newcastle – 21st Feb 2015, Premier League
• Man City 0-2 Newcastle – 29th Oct 2014, League Cup

Man City v Newcastle Preview

These two sides met in late December in a game which the Citizens won 1-0. While the scoreline was close, the game was certainly from that. Bar a late surge from Newcastle in the final 10 minutes, the match at St James’ Park was incredibly one sided. Rafa Benitez instructed his side to get everyone behind the ball and this led the game being played almost exclusivley in the Newcastle half. Had City been more clinical in front of goal, the game would have reflected their dominance more accurately.

After seeing Liverpool take the game to City last weekend, it will be interesting to see if Benitez will seek to go on the offensive here. It’s something we saw during their 3-2 win over West Ham just before Christmas and that result was followed up by another away win, this time against Stoke. Back to back away victories may give the Magpies some belief in this game although they have struggled to score just lately, netting just twice in their last four league contests.

Goals have been no problem for City on the other hand whose total for the season in the league now stands on 67, almost an average of three per game. Considerably more have come on home soil too and the only time they’ve dropped points at the Etihad was when down to 10 men against Everton early in the season. As formidable as their record is, they have conceded in their last four games across all competitions. Shutting the Citizens out is an almost impossible task, with Crystal Palace the only side managing so far this season but scoring against them appears far more doable.

Relevant Stats, Injuries and Suspensions

Newcastle have seldom relished this fixture for quite some time now. The last 20 top-flight meetings between the two sides has seen City end up on top 17 times with the remaining three games ending all square. History is well and truly against the Magpies for this one as they look for their first league win on City’s ground since 2000. Unable to help them in this mission will be Florian Lejeune who appears to be ruled out with a foot problem. He’s the only major player who looks set to miss this game for Newcastle though as Dwight Gayle is only a doubt along with reserve options Aleksander Mitrovic and Chancel Mbemba.

Pep Guardiola will be without the services of Gabriel Jesus upfront who is set to be out for another two weeks. Sergio Aguero is almost certain to the nod upfront and Nicolas Otamendi could well find himself playing at the back with Vincent Kompany still a major injury concern. Makeshift left back Fabian Delph will be absent from the City backline along with Benjamin Mendy who continues his long mend from an ACL tear.

Man City v Newcastle Tips

There are no prizes for guessing who the favourites are here and City are trading as short as 1/10 to win with some bookies. To get better value in the market head towards the handicaps where you can back the hosts to win with a -2 deficit at evens with Betfair. More than half City’s home league victories have been by greater than a two goal margin and they come into this game fresh having not had a mid-week fixture. The hosts should simply have too much quality for a relegation threatened Newcastle side who will be unable to contain City’s attacking talents.

Another bet worth considering is City to win to nil (37/40, BetVictor). Although we pointed out earlier that City are without a clean sheet in four, their defence has hardly been poor with the exception of the Liverpool game. They are facing quite a limited attacking threat too and goals are something that haven’t come especially often for Newcastle this season.