Paul Merson has now shared who he thinks is going to win in this weekend’s match between Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Newcastle are desperate to get back to winning ways in the Premier League while Man City need a win to maintain their title charge and catch up to leaders Liverpool.
In his weekly predictions with Sportskeeda, Merson has gone for a narrow victory for Man City but also claims that Newcastle do have a ‘glimmer of hope’ with the game being at St James’ Park.
Newcastle vs City is usually an entertaining watch
In this new era of the football club for Newcastle, games against the traditional big six sides have typically been very entertaining, and this fixture in particular last season ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
Neutrals will be hoping for a similar kind of game, but Eddie Howe will be very keen to get his first ever win against City in the league, with his first ever coming earlier this season in the Carabao Cup.
A win for Newcastle would do them the world of good having lost their last three in the league and, prior to beating Sunderland in the FA Cup, had lost seven of their last eight in all competitions.
There’s certainly no expectation for Newcastle to win in what is probably the toughest fixture you’ll have all season, but getting players back from injury and looking a bit more like their usual selves last weekend is giving fans hope.
“Newcastle are slowly getting some injured players back and are coming on the back of a good result against arch-rivals Sunderland. The win would’ve surely boosted their morale, but Sunderland were never going to get anything from the game after the team they put out and Newcastle’s XI was miles too strong on the night.
“Eddie Howe’s side are really good at home and have to win this one to have a glimmer of hope in terms of finishing top four, but Manchester City are also in need of a win as they aim to close the gap at the top of the table to just two points. They’ll have to be patient, though, as St. James’ Park is a tough place to visit.
“In terms of the title race, anything other than a Man City defeat here would make them favourites. Liverpool have a bunch of difficult games against Bournemouth, Arsenal and Chelsea coming up and are missing a lot of key players due to injuries and international commitments, so Pep Guardiola and co will look to capitalize.
“If Man City lose here and Liverpool beat Arsenal when the two sides face each other in three weeks, then the Reds will emerge as favourites as they have been in such situations before and held their nerves.
“You talk about clubs making signings in January to revitalize their squads for the second half of the season, but just look at what’s happening at Manchester City. They have Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland returning after their respective injury absences – that’s almost like £200m worth of talent coming into the team. It’s simply mind-blowing, no two ways about it.
“I think Manchester City will secure a narrow win but wouldn’t be surprised if this game ends all square.”
Prediction: Newcastle United 1-2 Manchester City
Newcastle will enjoy extended break after this weekend
While the match will be at the forefront of Howe’s mind right now, he is sure to be looking forward to the two-week break his recently injury-plagued side will enjoy immediately after facing City.
Newcastle are still waiting on a number of players to return from injury like Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy and Elliot Anderson.
However, they have also very recently picked up new injuries to Callum Wilson and Joelinton, so it will be great to have everyone available again at the back end of January with hopefully no more casualties to come on Saturday.
Howe has opted not to fly away for the two-week break like he has done in the two previous years at this time, so we’ll see if that has any impact on the way they attack the second half of the season.
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