Paul Merson has predicted who will win this weekend’s encounter between Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Newcastle are anxious to return to winning ways in the Premier League, while Manchester City need a win to keep their title chase going and close the gap on leaders Liverpool.
Merson has predicted a close victory for Man City in his weekly predictions with Sportskeeda, but he also believes Newcastle has a ‘glimmer of hope’ because the game is at St James’ Park.
Newcastle against. City is usually a good game to watch.
Newcastle’s games against the traditional big six sides have traditionally been quite entertaining in this new era of the football club, and this meeting in particular last season finished in a dramatic 3-3 draw.
The neutrals will be hoping for a similar type of game, but Eddie Howe will be looking for his first league win versus City, after his first in the Carabao Cup earlier this season.
Newcastle would benefit greatly from a win after losing their past three league games and seven of their last eight in all competitions prior to beating Sunderland in the FA Cup.
There is no expectation for Newcastle to win in what is likely to be the toughest game of the season, but seeing players return from injury and seem more like their typical selves last weekend gives fans optimism.
“Newcastle are gradually reintroducing injured players and are coming off a win against archrivals Sunderland.” The victory would have undoubtedly bolstered their morale, but Sunderland were never going to get anything out of the game with the lineup they fielded, and Newcastle’s XI was far too powerful on the night.
“Eddie Howe’s side are really good at home and need to win this one to have a glimmer of hope of finishing top four, but Manchester City also need to win as they aim to close the gap at the top of the table to just two points.” They’ll have to wait, though, because St. James’ Park is a difficult location to visit.
“Anything other than a Man City defeat here would make them favourites in the title race.” Liverpool has a number of challenging games coming up against Bournemouth, Arsenal, and Chelsea, as well as a number of key players absent due to injuries and international commitments, so Pep Guardiola and co will aim to capitalize.
“If Manchester City lose here and Liverpool beat Arsenal in three weeks, the Reds will emerge as favorites because they have been in similar situations before and kept their cool.”
“You talk about clubs making January signings to bolster their squads for the second half of the season, but look at what’s going on at Manchester City.” They have Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland returning from injury absences – that’s about £200 million in talent coming into the team. There are no two ways about it: it is absolutely mind-boggling.
“I think Manchester City will secure a narrow win but wouldn’t be surprised if this game ends all square.”
Newcastle United 1-2 Manchester City Prediction
Newcastle will take a long weekend after this weekend.
While the game will be on Howe’s mind right now, he will also be looking forward to the two-week break his recently injury-plagued team will receive immediately after facing City.
Newcastle are still waiting for Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy, and Elliot Anderson to return from injury.
However, they have just suffered further injuries to Callum Wilson and Joelinton, so it will be fantastic to see everyone back in action at the tail end of January, with hopefully no further casualties on Saturday.
Howe has chosen not to go abroad for the two-week break, as he has done in the last two years at this time, so we’ll see whether it influences how they approach the second half of the season.
