Kick-off: 1800, 08/07/2020
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
TV: BT Sport
Manchester City once again find themselves looking to bounce back from a defeat as they return to the Etihad Stadium.
Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Southampton was City’s ninth loss of the Premier League season and the first time boss Pep Guardiola has suffered three consecutive away league defeats in his managerial career.
City have bounced back with a win on each occasion this season, keeping a clean sheet in seven of those eight victories, so a home win to nil at 3/5 is our opening Man City vs Newcastle prediction.
A Look At Manchester City’s Betting Odds
The title race is over but City cannot afford to ease up too much given they are still competing for silverware in the FA Cup and Champions League.
The loss at St Mary’s was a disappointment but the consolation was that the visitors created plenty of chances but were repelled by a resolute defence and a fine performance from Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.
Guardiola admitted he was at a loss as to why the champions of the previous two years have struggled more this season, and midfielder Bernardo Silva knows similar performances moving forward are not acceptable.
He said: “It’s a big disappointment but I honestly think the team played a good game in terms of the quality of the chances we created, but we just couldn’t convert them.
“These are frustrating games when you create 10 or 15 chances and can’t score. We have to improve and get better.
“Hopefully in the next few games we’ll get back to winning ways ahead of the FA Cup semi-final and Champions League.”
City may need to be patient again, given they have drawn a first-half blank in four of their last five home games against bottom-half clubs.
They have won all seven of their second halves at home to such teams, though, so Draw HT/City FT appeals at 3/1 in the Man City vs Newcastle odds.
Last Man City line-up: Ederson, Zinchenko, Laporte, Cancelo, Garcia, B Silva, D Silva, Fernandinho, Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez.
A Look At Newcastle United’s Betting Odds
These two teams are meeting for the second time since the season resumed, with Newcastle having lost 2-0 at home to City in the FA Cup quarter-finals last month.
They responded well to that setback with a 4-1 win at Bournemouth and then twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with West Ham at the weekend.
A hard-fought point came at a cost for Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce, though, with Isaac Hayden and a weary Allan Saint-Maximin hobbling off to join Sean Longstaff on the sidelines.
Kevin De Bruyne’s penalty broke the deadlock in the FA Cup tie before Raheem Sterling doubled City’s lead midway through the second half.
Sterling opened the scoring in the 2-2 draw at St James’ Park in November as well as last season’s meeting at the Etihad, meaning he has found the net in four of the last six meetings.
With Sergio Aguero out injured and Gabriel Jesus out of form, we’re backing Sterling to score first at 333/100 as the last of our Man City vs Newcastle predictions.
Last Newcastle line-up: Dubravka, Lascelles, Krafth, Fernandez, Manquillo, Shelvey, Hayden, Almiron, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Gayle.
Additional stats
Last result:
NEWCASTLE 2-2 West Ham – Miguel Almiron, Jonjo Shelvey
Southampton 1-0 MAN CITY
Head-to-head: Newcastle 0-2 Man City, Newcastle 2-2 Man City, Newcastle 2-1 Man City, Man City 2-1 Newcastle, Man City 3-1 Newcastle, Newcastle 0-1 Man City
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