Newcastle United vs Manchester City
Manchester City continues its Premier League defence with an away fixture against Newcastle United in the weekend curtain-raiser.
At 12-30pm UK time St James Park will be packed to the rafters and bouncing as the Magpies try to raise their game against the reigning champions. Steve Bruce has exceeded expectations so far as Newcastle boss; his side sits in 14th place and five points above the drop zone. The Geordies would certainly take that come May, but their visitors are not currently where they want to be.
Beating Chelsea 2-1 last week was an important result for the Sky Blues, almost crucial as the latest Premier League betting odds here at SBOBET illustrate just what a task they have to retain the league title for a third consecutive lead. You can get 3.30 on Pep Guardiola’s team, with Liverpool as low as 1.24.
That win moved them up to third, still nine points behind the Reds but still very much in the hunt.
Talking Points
City look to Jesus for goals
The Sky Blues’ best striker has been in the Premier League news this week and not in the way City fans would want. Sergio Aguero is at 7.00 to finish top scorer in the league this season, but after he limped off in during the win over Chelsea, head coach Guardiola fears he could be out for a few weeks. Aguero already has nine goals in the league, only Tammy Abraham and Jamie Vardy have more.
But Guardiola has a more than capable understudy in Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian hotshot stepped in for the Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk and was instrumental in the 1-1 draw which took City through to the last 16. His good work set up Ilkay Gundogan for the equaliser after Tete had given the underdogs an early lead.
Of course, Jesus won’t have to do it on his own; the Sky Blues have an array of attacking talent with Raheem Sterling already on seven for the season. It’s at the other end of the pitch where City have more problems.
Pep’s defensive dilemma has dogged him throughout the season, having found himself a defender short after Vincent Kompany retired and Aymeric Laporte was injured. The champions have now gone six games without a clean sheet.
Can Newcastle strikers benefit?
But if a defence needs a shut-out, Newcastle isn’t the worst place they could go!
The Magpies are at odds of 3.50 to be relegated, fourth on the list for that miserable outcome, which suggests a narrow escape is what the Geordies should be hoping for. A good run of results, yielding ten points from five games lifted Newcastle to mid-table, but a Monday night defeat to newly-promoted Aston Villa exposed some of Newcastle’s shortcomings.
His side fell to two free-kicks after DeAndre Yedlin and Federico Fernandez both made defensive errors, while his attack was completely ineffective against the hosts. They have struggled to score goals and it’s hard to see how they can beat City when Villa were so untroubled.
The Geordies have spent heavily on strikers but without a return. Joelinton has one goal to show for 13 games while Miguel Almiron is still to score after 23 Premier League matches. Matthew Longstaff hit the headlines with the winning goal against Manchester United at the start of Newcastle’s climb away from the bottom three, so maybe Bruce should look to youth again.
The boss has been dealt a blow by the long term injury to skipper and centre back Jamaal Lascelles and will hope Jonjo Shelvey can lead the side to some success before the return of Lascelles, sometime in 2020.
History
Newcastle beat Manchester City in January, a result which many thought had handed the title to Liverpool, but it didn’t and that was the Magpies only win over the Sky Blues is 23 matches!
In 164 meetings they have won more (65 to 63) but in recent years Manchester City have been on a different planet.
Bruce’s team will put up a fight though. Only Leicester City have conceded fewer home league goals, while City have won only one of their last four games in all competitions.
Betting Tip
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Newcastle United vs Manchester City | Under 3.25 goals @ 1.95 |
| November 30, 20:30 (GMT+8) |
This should be a sure-fire away win with Newcastle at 11.00 to win, with the draw at 6.80 and Manchester City at 1.20.
The Sky Blues are likely to recover from their blip sooner rather than later, and while Newcastle are defensively strong at home, I can’t see their strikers having much luck, even against a City defence which gives you a glimmer of hope.
The most likely result is 0-2 at 6.20, while 0-3 is at 7.20. Take your pick, but either way, I’m backing fewer than four goals.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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