Newcastle v Manchester City – Premier League match preview

United v City
The proper United v City
Newcastle attempt to put their disappointing FA Cup exit behind them by welcoming Manchester City to St James’ Park tomorrow.

A return to winning ways would ease some of the pressure that has started to build once more after an impressive first half of the season.

However that return to winning ways, if it transpires that way, will have to be against a side who are playing extremely well at the moment. Manchester City seem to have found a solution to their problem of having so many expensive superstar players in one side and have now become a team rather than a set of individuals.

City look more fearsome right now than they ever have done and their results at home speak for themselves. They’ve played ten league games at the Etihad and have won every one of them scoring nearly four goals on average in each of those matches. Away from home they have been shaky but even those blemishes are starting to be erased and they’ve not lost on the road since their visit to Sunderland back in November. They are setting themselves up nicely for the tail end of the season.

Newcastle:

Fabricio Coloccini is still sidelined and Mathieu Debuchy is still suspended so both will miss this game along with, potentially, Davide Santon who is struggling with a thigh problem. Ryan Taylor remains absent and will be for a good while yet.

It’s not all bad news though as Yohan Cabaye, who missed the defeat to Cardiff with an achilles issue could return while Tim Krul should be fit to resume goalkeeping duties.

Manchester City:

Sergio Aguero is out as he continues to recover from a calf injury. Stevan Jovetic and Micah Richards might be fit enough to return to the squad while Jack Rodwell and Jesus Navas are both doubts ahead of the game.

Previously…

Our previous against City doesn’t make for good reading in recent years and you have to scroll back to September 2005 to find our last recorded win against them which was a 1-0 victory courtesy of a Michael Owen goal.

Since then we’ve hosted Manchester City seven times (six in the league, once in the League Cup) with only a solitary draw to our name.

However it’s not all bad news as we do still hold the upper hand historically. There has been 169 meetings between the two clubs with United winning 70 times, City winning 61 times with 38 draws rounding things off. At St James’ Park we’ve played 77, won 48, drawn 15 and lost 14 matches.

Stats and facts…

Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League matches against Newcastle, winning the last eight.

Newcastle have not lost four games in a row for just over a year.

Loic Remy has been caught offside (23 times) more than any other player in the Premier League.

Newcastle have the same points after the same amount of games as we accrued in the season where we finished fifth. We’re also 13 points better off than at the same stage last season.

Final thought…

I know this sounds a little bit like a love in towards Manchester City. It’s not meant to be but few can deny they’ve been devastating and impressive of late.

If only the same could be said for Newcastle eh? The wheels are wobbling at the moment and a game against a side bang in form is probably not what we need right now. Mind you, stranger things have happened and lets be fair, we’ve come up short against supposed weaker teams so why not try and get back to winning ways the hard way?

The key word there is ‘try’ and as long as we do that I’ll be happy enough. We may not be able to compete with the spending power of City or their quality on the pitch, but we can match their effort at the very least.

Howay the lads!

Date: Sunday, 12th January, 2014

Time: 2:05pm

Venue: St James’ Park

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

113 thoughts on “Newcastle v Manchester City – Premier League match preview

  1. Toonsy ,totally agree, City look fantastic right now and so they should given the list of superstars ,good manager and money thrown at the team. That said, if they just think all they have to do is turn up then we could snatch something , well alright we’ll get stuffed in all likelihood but you know what I mean. 😉

    Think we really need a fully fit Cabs back for this one and it’s a real shame Debs is missing . I’m not gonna even try to pick a side to beat them since who ever plays in what ever system, it will be very hard to get a result, don’t envy Pards one bit on this one tbh.

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  2. Interesting that Remy is listed as the most offside player (23 times) in PL, isn’t that supposed to be Cisse 😉 Wait with bated breath to see all the Cisse haters turn their attention to Remy now 🙄 . Seriously though I would love to know how often Remy was offside in previous seasons as it strikes me as odd that he and Cisse are now guilty of this terrible crime, and begs the question is this not happening because we are so slow getting forward and both he and Cisse are too quick for the rest? or have these two very good strikers suddenly forgotten how to stay on side.

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  3. We’ve worried and beaten the top sides this season…. So there is no reason we can’t beat city… other than we probably won’t 🙂

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  4. I will drink in the light or the dark, so your plan really makes no difference to me Porcie! :mrgreen:

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  5. Kim 😀 put the Sunday roast on hold and get some take away 😆 I love the early kick offs !!

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  6. theres a message for tattyhead big dave and icedog and richie on the last blog 😆

    ganning for a draw tomorrow meself 😯

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  7. @ MARK
    a win would not come as a shock if they have at weakness man city its on there travels,felt we give them a good game in the cup,if we had been a bit more ruthless up front that night we could of won the game

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  8. add in the fact they played midweek a win is not out of the question in my view but would be happy with a point against them

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  9. Mark (11)
    So you reckon we can hold back the tide then. Hmmm, not so sure I have your confidence but I hope Yr right.

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  10. @PORCIESTREET

    well aye, easy 😯

    this is the start of our come-back and the game MA decides we dont need any new player.. 😀

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  11. Hull are showing (for now) if you play a bit but keep it tight you have a chance.

    If we sit back like we normally do (but without Collo, Debs and maybe Santon) we will concede and most definitely lose.

    We need to be a bit more positive and get at them from the start.

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  12. @Premandup

    A very compelling argument in favour of sticking with pardew.

    You’re the first on here to have put forward some good & sensible reasons for sticking with pardew rather than the usual rubbish that we can’t get anyone better.

    The important point is Mike Ashley’s risk profile. Is he risk averse? I would guess he is.

    Therefore your argument in favour of Pardew is the most solid i’ve seen anywhere.

    I’ve been arguing in favour of a more risky (& rewarding) approach as the reasons for appointing someone like Bielsa, Terim etc without thinking about Mike Ashley’s risk profile.

    If i was a middle aged billionaire & had almost no knowledge of football, it’s quite possible that i would do the same thing & stick with Pardew (for now).

    Good job Premandup!

    I’ll put my pitchfork down…

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  13. Sorry but I just cant see us getting owt from tomorrows game.
    KK most on here that want to stick with Pards have made it crystal clear why, but if you dont want to agree with them thats up to you so I wouldnt waste my time explaining to you knowing you think my opinion is rubbish

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  14. @toonsy

    I’ve put the pitchfork down but i might still need it if we start drifting more & more towards relegation!

    @bigdave
    Yes, those in favour of sticking with pardew have made their reasons clear.

    Some good reasons (premandup) & some rubbish reasons (apparently nobody like bielsa or terim would ever be interested!)

    I wouldn’t want you to waste your time & i do enjoy reading some of ypur posts.

    Please don’t stop posting your opinion because of me! It is a blog after all so please don’t take any offence.

    No hard feelings buddy 😎

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  15. KK I have no probs putting my opinion on here from it was formed, and will continue to 😉
    As for the rubbish idea that Terim etc wouldnt want to come here, for me that is a fair point but as I dont think a good manager would work under the constraints put on them, but for me and a few others on here the no1 reason is that Jabba wouldnt give them the job

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  16. KK you might think thats a rubbish reason but thats what I strongly believe.
    Jabba has had chances to get top managers etc but he has usually stuck with the ones he knows bar KK but then it was widely reported that he gave KK the job as he was planning on selling the club.

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  17. Mackems only 2 points from getting out the bottom 3 if things stay the way they are 😯 barstewards!!

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  18. You can always depend on the Scum to wreck your weekend 👿 c’mon Fulham and C’mon Cardiff too, can’t believe Fat Sams boys winning, bloody Carlton cole 🙄

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  19. Dave…Aye I fear you’re right but you never know, there truly are some poor teams down there. I think it depends on whether Solskjaer can work some magic at Cardiff and Fat Sam can get West Ham going again and Palace can keep picking up points, they looked good 1st half v Spurs but have jut gone a goal down in the 2nd 🙁

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  20. @bigdave

    It’s an interesting opinion you have.

    My opinion is that the ‘constraints’ Mike Ashley has put into the club are not revolutionary. The setup we have is very similar to those of clubs abroad.

    Therefore if we bring in a foreign manager, from their perspective the constraints are perfectly normal & fine.

    A DoF is very common overseas & transfers in & out of the club is normally decided by them.

    A tight transfer budget is also very common because other leagues do not have the same kind of income we have i the Premier League.

    We haven’t won a cup for so long but we’re still the in the top 20 richest clubs in the world!

    Perhaps you’re referring to some other contraints i don’t know?

    Your post @27 is something i 100% agree with. It’s my biggest gripe with Mike Ashley as i really believe he could have taken this club further if he had made better appointment from Pardew to Keegan.

    As much of a legend Keegan is, i don’t think he is good enough to manage us anymore as the game has moved on.

    None of the stuff we’ve had to experience would have happened if SBR was appointed straight after Big Sam.

    Anyway, my pitchfork is down (for now!), nobody is expecting us to get anything tomorrow, everything is lining up for a big suprise!!

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  21. I actually agree with KK 😯 and have mentioned it on here previously (during and after last season) that I don’t believe a foreign coach would have any problems working under the “constraints” of the regime at NUFC…however I just don’t think the club has or had any interest in appointing one, they seem to be more than happy with things the way we are as long as we’re safe from the drop.

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  22. I didn’t watch the fulham vs sunderland game but (at the risk of sounding bitter) the stats suggest fulham didn’t deserve to lose 1-4 or even lose at all.

    It should be interesting to listen to both managers take on it.

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  23. It is an concern when you look at our current form and the games we have coming up. Man City, who usually comfortably beat us, West Ham – Fat Sam will be desperate to beat us again, Hughton will be desperate to beat us, mackems will try for 3 in a row. Then Chelsea and Spurs. There is the potential for a nightmare middle to the season. The performance needs to improve so much from the last few games and maybe a defender signed in January.

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  24. Well done to Poyet, if he keeps that team up he is a better manager than Pardew, Hughton, Fat Sam, Bruce, etc. etc. in my opinion. It would be an incredible achievement, he mugged Pardew a couple of times already at Brighton, that we know. 🙁

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  25. KK as I said my no1 reason has always been that Jabba wouldnt appoint the managers you want, so for me there is no point blaming Pards etc because 99% of fans agree that a top manager would probably do a better job even with the squad we have but Jabba doesnt want to do that.
    So for me he isnt a very good owner because he isnt getting the best people in to run the club to its maximum potential, simply because he is happy enough with the people he knows keeping us in the prem nothing else.

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  26. @bigdave

    I hold out hope that if mike ashley goes through enough managers then eventually he’ll end up appointing a good one (same as liverpool or atletico madrid).

    I just think as fans we should make it clear to mike & joe that we want pardew replaced with a specific manager (Terim for example).

    I’m sure with enough fans calling for the same (realistic) change, it would become obvious to mike & joe & hopefully they’d make it happen.

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  27. Are there any Man Utd players that we’d be interested in signing? Realistic signings!

    I’m not sure we’d be interested in any of the ones that they’re likely to get rid of.

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  28. @KK your point is totally valid and true. We would do much better with a foreign manager… unfortunately BDave seems to be right.. Ashley doesnt want a decent manager, he’s quite happy us bobbing along in the Prem with a yes-man.

    & since when would MA & Joe listen to the fans? 😆 he doesnt even listen to Pardew..

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  29. I know this could bite me in the ***. But watching Routledge tonight you can see why we moved him on. He is so wasteful of possession

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  30. @mark

    Good couple of posts there buddy.

    Well come to think of it, perhaps just 1 good post. The other post about man utd losing 1-0 now looks little bit off the mark lol.

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  31. I’m not expecting anything from tomorrow’s match. Their form has been fantastic. A very smooth team now with the right manager. We have all our usual problems with injuries, suspensions, and lack of depth. As for Remy’s offside problem don’t forget he’s had far more playing time than Cisse for quite a while now lass! But seriously I don’t like the slump in Remy’s performances lately either. He needs a good game tomorrow. Hopefully the game won’t get ugly for us. I’m worried that Pardew will field a defensive formation and we’ll spend the whole match in our own half.

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  32. I saw your comments about Cisse @2 above Kimtoon mate. 😆 I’m definitely not a Cisse hater but have been hugely disappointed in him for months and months now. I would take my hat off to him if he were to recover form and become a deadly marksman again for us. We badly need another in form scorer with just Remy and Gouffran providing most of our goals.

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  33. Cisse does need to be starting but who should be benched? Remy or gouffran? Perhaps someone else?

    I would bench remy (our top scorer lol) because we should try to get the best out of our own players.

    Remy should only be used as an impact sub imo.

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  34. KK thats the problem who between the 2 gets dropped, but for me the best and easiest way is that Cisse should be ahead of Strolla no matter what. 😉

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  35. Dave ,agree Cisse HAS to be ahead of Shola and if in Pards eyes he isn’t then quite simply he has to sell him.

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  36. G2, I know Cisse is out of form but like Dave said he needs to be starting games really. I do find it odd that Remy is the most offside striker in the PL, even when Cisse was starting regularly he wasn’t the most offside striker there were several good forwards above him in the top ten including RVP as I recall.

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  37. Kim I have sid several times the problem Cisse has is that only a couple of our players can play a quick enough pass for him, and thats Marv and Benny but they arnt starting either.

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  38. Dave, very true, I thought he linked up well with Marv meself. Apparently Pards has said Marv will get more playing time during Jan and Feb 😉

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  39. Ageed bigdave 😆

    That’s why Carr really needs to find a replacement for Shola (Lukk De Jong?).

    It’s the only realistic way Pardew will stop playing Shola when plan A fails.

    I just hope that we give Shola good send off when he does leave. He might not be prolific but he’s always been a good pro.

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  40. @Kimtoon

    Where did you hear about Marv getting more playing time?

    I was under the impression he had fallen out with Pardew & had played his last game

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  41. KK he has always been a good pro but then he gets well paid for it, so for me he’s a good pro but **** striker.
    Batts sorry was I taking up to much space 😉

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  42. KK, I was on a link earlier and saw it , I will see if I can find it again but don’t hold your breath 😀

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  43. maybe Marv doesnt like the wing-back role our wingers are asked to play. It seems only the fittest survive Pardews tactics. Jonas could motor all day, so too can Goofy. I’m not sure if a traditional winger would fit in at newcastle??

    funny stat from nufc.com

    A second red card in just four games for Kevin Nolan on New Years Day resulted in a four game suspension that means he’ll miss this visit of former side Newcastle.

    Our old boy does have a little bit of form in this area, having inexplicably managed to get himself banned towards the turn of the year previously as follows……

    29th Dec 2012 5th yellow, missed game on 1st Jan
    26th Dec 2011 5th yellow, missed game on 31st Dec
    26th Dec 2010 5th yellow, missed game on 28th Dec
    28th Dec 2009 5th yellow, missed game on 2nd Jan

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  44. @kimtoon

    Thanks for the link, it seems there still is hope for Marveaux.

    @Mark
    How big an issue might this be for Nolan?

    No doubt he just wants some time off over the new year but if he’s been doing it for 5 years running…..somebody would (& did) pick up on it.

    Wouldn’t that kind of be similar to a match fixing, betting scam problem.

    Surely he’s not alone in it either. How many premier league players get suspended on purposes just so that they can get some time off.

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  45. jonas tweets

    “Thank you mate. It was an honor and a pleasure to play with the Newcastle shirt and to have the support of the Geordie.”

    “Thanks for the messages. I enjoy my 5 years at the club, I hope the club finish the highest this season and the best to my team mates.”

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