Manchester City to test Newcastle United’s progress as the moneybags clash at the Saint James Park

By -
Manchester City travel to Saint James' Park on Sunday evening looking to continue their 100 per cent start to the season having beaten West Ham United and Bournemouth in their opening two games.


The Citizens have enjoyed a good start and fate has also been kind on them as their main rival for the title, Liverpool are still without a win after two games while also have a number of first team players unavailable.

Pep Guardiola will be hopeful of establishing an early lead in the title charge, to make it almost impossible for chasers to catch up once they are back to their best, and winning at Newcastle on Sunday will be another step forward.

Eddie Howe’s side have shown massive improvement since the turn of the year, with only Liverpool and Manchester City the only two teams in the league to have won more points than them in the league.

The second half of last season saw Newcastle United produced some astonishing results to stay in the topflight following a poor start to the season which saw them without a win in their opening 14 games.

They've also started the new season in the same vein and have recorded four points from two games. They are the only team other than Manchester City yet to concede a goal in the league this season.

Defensively, they've been resolute. In the midfield, they've been steady and going forward, they have been more clinical albeit the money hasn't been really splash on several incomings.

This summer, Newcastle United have added just one outfield player in Dutch defender, Sven Botman arriving from Lille in a £40 million deal. The only other signing is goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley.

Manager Eddie Howe deserves lots of credits for the turnaround of the club in such a short period. They've made the right signings and are playing some good football. This early, they're already proving no pushovers for the top teams.


However, a Manchester City side, who have long passed the phase United are in right now can be very brutal on their day. Last season, they did the double over Newcastle, winning by an aggregate of 9-0 which included a 5-0 win in the second leg, at a time Newcastle has improved massively.

It might be too early for Newcastle to start rubbing shoulders with City but if presented the chance to hurt the visitors on Sunday, it is obvious the Magpies will take full advantage of the situation.

Manchester City have won 19 and lost only one in their last 22 league meetings against Newcastle United and have kept five clean sheets in their last six meetings across all competitions, scoring 22 times.

Newcastle United current boast a formidable home record in 2022, winning eight of the ten played and losing just once, a 1-0 loss to Liverpool in April, with the only goal coming in a very controversial circumstance as Newcastle have a player down in the build up to Naby Keita’s goal.

Watford on the evening of new year is the other team to pick a point at the Saint James' in 2022. They have made it difficult for teams traveling down to Tyne and even Manchester City will have to be at their best to get a result there.

Aymeric Laporte will miss out for Manchester City while summer signing Kalvin Phillips is also a doubt. Jonjo Shelvey, Emile Kraft and Ryan Fraser are the major absentees for the host.


Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Newcastle defeat means time to go BIG on Eddie Howe might be about right

By -
Image
Eddie Howe's Newcastle United falled to a sixth defeat in seven games as Nottingham Forest sealed a 3-1 comeback win in the Saint James' Park, adding to their Champions League and Carabao Cup elimination in December while they continue to drop down the Premier League table. Credits to the Englishman, however, he is not in an elite level. A project like Newcastle United's is in a stage where you say thank you very much to Eddie Howe, a bid him farewell. It was a miracle, what the former AFC Bournemouth boss has done in his just more than two years at the helm of affairs in Tyneside and after the club failed to make the statement upon their UEFA Champions League qualification, the time couldn't be more right. Eddie Howe took charge of Newcastle United when the club was deep down the bottom of the Premier League standing and helped them become the first-ever to avoid relegation having not won a single game up until Gameweek 14 in the competition's history. Newcastle Un
Read more

Rasmus Hojlund; a pragmatic solution to Manchester United's needs despite likely consequences

By -
Image
Rasmus Hojlund has emerged as a real target for Manchester United as they look to secure a main goalscorer, who will lead the lines for the club on a long-term. Erik Ten Hag has opted for a different approach compared to previous managers of United in recent times, whom had all gone for players of different status. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Odion Ighalo, Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wout Weghorst are strikers the club has signed post Sir Alex Ferguson era, all of whom arrived at the club in their 30s. With Hojlund, United are looking to sign someone who just turned 20, though still has a lot more to learn to master the trade but at the same time, he has got the potentials to become one of the best around. The striker position has been a major issue for the club as many of those who had been signed has not lived up to expectations, while those who did ended up leaving due to their already ending careers. Cristiano Ronaldo and maybe Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the only two names who have m
Read more

Nigeria makes continental history as Osimhen and Oshoala win big in CAF awards

By -
Image
Victory for Nigeria at the CAF awards gala in Marrakech as Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala won the major prizes on the night, making the country the first-ever to produce winners of both CAF Men's and Women's Best Players in the same year. Victor Osimhen crowned Africa's Best For the first time since Kanu Nwankwo 24 years ago, a Nigerian player has won the most prestigious individual accolade in African football with striker Victor Osimhen beating Mohamed Salah and Achraf Hakimi to the CAF Men's Player of the Year award. Osimhen, who enjoyed a sensational year with Napoli, delivering their first Scudetto in 33years and helping them to a first-ever quarter final place in the UEFA Champions League was always front-runner for the award, moreso after Riyad Mahrez failed to make the final three. Aside his conquests with Napoli, the 24-year-old striker was also unplayable in the AFCON qualifiers, scoring ten goals in six games and finishing as top scorer of the qualificatio
Read more