Who: Manchester City vs Newcastle United
Content: English Premier League
Location: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England
Date and time: Saturday, February 21st, 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 17:00 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
Manchester City will move within two points of Arsenal with a win over Newcastle United on Saturday, giving the league leaders more excitement ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.
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Draws against Brentford and Wolves have left the Gunners with just two wins in their last seven league games, but wins against Liverpool and Fulham have put City in a position to capitalize on Arsenal’s slump.
Ominously for Newcastle, City are currently unbeaten in seven games in all competitions, boasting the best home record in the league.
Meanwhile, Newcastle will be looking to revitalize a shaky Premier League season that saw them sit in 10th place heading into the weekend.
The Magpies have also lost their last 12 games against City and will be desperate to end that losing streak in Saturday’s showdown.
Newcastle enter the game in good form after defeating Qarabag 6-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday and beating Spurs 2-1 in their final league game, ending a four-game winless run in the Premier League.
“We’re hunting.”
Arsenal are five points behind second-placed City, but Josep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand and are due to host the leaders in April.
After allowing City to overhaul their squad in the 2023 and 2024 title races, the north Londoners, who have not won a silver medal since the 2020 FA Cup, face tough questions about their ability to deal with rising tensions.
Manager Tijjani Lijnders has warned Arsenal that City are ready to mount an onslaught after allowing the leaders to return to the title race.
“The atmosphere was good, it’s been good before. Obviously we dropped some points, but we’re feeling good and we’re chasing and we’re going to keep going,” Reinders said.
“Of course we have to wait and see, but if things keep going like this, who knows?”
Cities are “benchmarks”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said his side try to learn something from City every time they play against them.
“They have been the benchmark for many teams over the years. Every time we have a painful defeat at the Etihad, we try to grow from it, evolve and improve,” he said in Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“They are very good and they are led by a good manager. In my opinion, they will continue to be the benchmark.”
“I think every time we’ve played there we’ve made big mistakes that cost us games. We’ve been out there and we’ve been competitive, but we played too well a few times and we’ve got to make up for that this weekend.”
“Any team that plays can win. That gives us hope (that we’ve won before) and we have proof that we can win games. We have to do everything right, tactically and physically. We’ve done it before and we know if we go out we can win.”
direct confrontation
The first time the two clubs met was in October 1893, when Newcastle defeated City, then known as Ardwick, 3-2 in Division Two.
Man City and United have faced each other 197 times across all competitions. City won 81 of those games, the Magpies won 74 and 42 were draws.
The sides have met three times already this season, with City winning 5-1 on aggregate in the two League Cup semi-finals, while Newcastle won 2-1 in the league at St James’ Park in November.
City team news
Starting striker Erling Haaland was left out of the squad for last weekend’s FA Cup game against Salford, and his fitness is in doubt after suffering a knock in the previous match against Fulham.
Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Sabinho remain sidelined due to injury. Jeremy Doku is also ruled out with a calf problem, while Max Alleyne may also be unavailable after being sent off against Salford.
Expected starting lineup:
Donnarumma (GK) Ait Nouri, Guehi, Diaz, Nunez. O’Reilly, Rodri. Semenyo, Silva, Cherki. haaland
newcastle team news
Newcastle midfield defender Bruno Guimarães has injured his hamstring, meaning the Brazilian will be sidelined for about two months.
Tino Libramento, Luis Miley, Fabian Schaal and Emil Craft are also absent due to injury.
Howe said Ioan Wissa was unlikely to be available after suffering a “severe shock” in training, but Sven Botman could be available.
Expected starting lineup:
Pope (GK); Trippier, Thiau, Byrne, Hall. Joelinton, Tonali. Murphy, Waltemaid, Burns. gordon
