Soccer English Premier League 4 March 2023

Manchester City vs Newcastle - Match Preview

The Premier League (PL) title race is intensifying with reigning champions Manchester City maintaining pressure on table-toppers Arsenal after an emphatic 4-1 win at Bournemouth last weekend. Having followed that up with a comfortable 3-0 FA Cup triumph over Bristol City, Man City manager Pep Guardiola - who recently took a swipe at Manchester United’s expenditure - will be desperate to further fuel his side’s momentum with victory against the PL’s richest club Newcastle United.

City remains in the title hunt despite their current points tally of 55 after 25 games being the fewest in all but one of their previous five PL campaigns, with the one exception (2019/20) notably being the only one in which they didn’t lift the trophy. Historical trends will likely be the last thing on Guardiola’s mind though as he prepares to face a side that City have conquered in 13 consecutive PL home H2Hs, whilst another victory here would set a joint record for the longest winning home run against a single opponent in the competition!

This is a vastly different Newcastle outfit to many of those City has encountered over the years, displayed by Newcastle's charge for the UEFA Champions League places this season. The Magpies narrowly missed out on League Cup glory after a 2-0 final defeat to Manchester United at Wembley last weekend, though their travelling form has been rock-solid in the PL with their current eight away games unbeaten (W4, D4) their longest such PL run!

Eddie Howe’s rejuvenated side also broke a competitive six-game losing H2H run in a 3-3 reverse fixture draw with City in August 2022, and with no side conceding fewer goals on their PL travels so far (seven), Newcastle are likely to provide stern opposition again. Only time will tell if the visitors are still reeling from missing out on silverware last weekend as they strive to cut a five-point gap to fourth-placed Tottenham.

📋 Players to watch: Phil Foden is in red-hot form, netting four goal contributions from City’s last two games (G3, A1), but Miguel Almirón might be the one to watch early on, as his three goals across Newcastle’s last five PL away games all arrived before half-time.

⚡ Hot streak: Manchester City have scored in their last 28 PL games against Newcastle - the joint-longest run of one team scoring against another in the competition’s history.