Who: Manchester City vs Newcastle United
What: English Premier League
Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
When: Saturday, February 21 at 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Manchester City will move two points behind Arsenal if they beat Newcastle United on Saturday, putting extra heat on the league leaders before their north London derby on Sunday.
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City’s victories over Liverpool and Fulham have put them in a position to capitalise on Arsenal’s slump, after successive draws against Brentford and Wolves left the Gunners with just two wins in their last seven league matches.
Ominously for Newcastle, City are now unbeaten in seven games across all competitions and boast the joint-best home record in the league.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are looking to revitalise their inconsistent Premier League campaign, which has left them in 10th place going into the weekend.
The Magpies have also lost their last 12 games at City and will be desperate to end that run in Saturday’s showdown.
Newcastle come into the game on a high after thrashing Qarabag 6-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday and having beaten Spurs 2-1 in their last league game to end a four-game winless Premier League run.
‘We are on the hunt’
While Arsenal are five points clear of second-placed City, Pep Guardiola’s team have a game in hand and will host the leaders in April.
After allowing City to overhaul them in the 2023 and 2024 title races, the north Londoners, who have not won silverware since the 2020 FA Cup, face pointed questions about their ability to handle the mounting tension.
Tijjani Reijnders has warned Arsenal that City are primed to pounce after the leaders allowed them back into the title race.
“The mood’s been good, but it was also good before. Of course we’ve dropped some points as well, but it’s good and we are on the hunt and we keep going,” Reijnders said.
“We have to see of course, but if we keep going like this, who knows?”
City are the ‘benchmark’
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said his side tries to learn something from City every time they play against them.
“They have been the benchmark for a number of years for many teams. Each painful defeat we suffer at the Etihad we try to grow from it, evolve and improve,” he said at Friday’s pre-match news conference.
“They have been very, very good and are led by an outstanding manager. They continue to be the benchmark in my opinion.
“Every time we’ve played there, I think we’ve made mistakes big enough to cost us the game. We’ve been in the games, they’ve been competitive, but they have been too good for us on a number of occasions and we need to bridge that gap this weekend.
“Every team you play is beatable. That gives us hope [that we have beaten them before] and the evidence is there that we can win the game. We have to do everything right, tactically, physically. We’ve done it before, and if we turn up, we know we can do it.”
Head-to-head
The two clubs first locked horns in October 1893, when Newcastle beat City, then known as Ardwick, 3-2 in Division Two.
Man City and United have now faced each other 197 times across all competitions; City won 81 of those games, the Magpies won 74, and 42 ended as draws.
They have already played each other three times this season, with City winning two League Cup semifinal legs for a 5-1 aggregate win, but Newcastle claiming a 2-1 league victory at St James’ Park in November.
City’s team news
There are doubts over start striker Erling Haaland’s fitness after he was left out of the squad in the FA Cup win over Salford last weekend, having picked up a knock against Fulham in the previous game.
Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Savinho remain sidelined with injuries. Jeremy Doku is also a doubt due to a calf issue, and Max Alleyne may be unavailable after he was forced off against Salford.
Predicted starting XI:
Donnarumma (GK); Ait-Nouri, Guehi, Dias, Nunes; O’Reilly, Rodri; Semenyo, Silva, Cherki; Haaland
Newcastle’s team news
Newcastle have been rocked by a hamstring injury to midfield talisman Bruno Guimaraes, which will keep the Brazilian out of action for about two months.
Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley, Fabian Schar, and Emil Krafth are also unavailable due to injuries.
Howe said Yoane Wissa is unlikely to be available after getting a “nasty knock” in training, but that Sven Botman could be available.
Predicted starting XI:
Pope (GK); Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Joelinton, Tonali; Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes; Gordon
