Having added up more than triple the points of the rival in the first round, Manchester City faces Newcastle on Wednesday, December 27, in a match for the twentieth round, the first of the return of the English Premier League in its 2017/2018 edition. At St. James Park in Newcastle, the clash starts scheduled for 5:45 pm EST.
Newcastle’s recent performance
An important 3-2 win in London against West Ham on Saturday 23 December led Newcastle to finish the first half of the tournament outside the relegation zone. The success interrupted a nine-game fast. In the period, the club led by Spanish coach Rafa Benitez suffered eight defeats and tied once in their worst run of results in their return season to the Premier League.
With 18 points (five wins, three draws and 11 losses), alvinegro has his only goal in the year to escape from having to compete in the Championship, the Second Division of the English Championship, once again.
For this you will have to break another fast. This time, homemade. The team lost the last four matches of the English Championship in their stadium. Of the 27 points disputed in St. James Park managed to add only ten (three victories, a tie and five defeats).
For this, Benitez has practically all the cast at his disposal. The medical department has only two players, but they are not often scaled between starters. Defender Jesus Gomez (two matches in the English Championship 2017/2018, no goal) and striker Aleksandr Mitrovic (six games, one goal) are in the process of injury treatment.
The current form of Manchester City
The City seems to have played a different league than all rivals in the first round. After a draw at the Premiership, he lined up a string of 18 victories setting a record for consecutive successes in the Premier League. As a result, by accumulating 55 of the 57 possible points, he opened a chasm of 13 points in the comparison as Manchester United at the end of the 19-match block.
Although such a difference is not definite, the Manchester Blues’ way of playing does not allow them to imagine that the team has a yield drop big enough so that Pepe Guardiola’s players do not reach the end of the season with the English Cup. After all, they have the best attack of the tournament with 60 goals scored and the defense less leaked, with 12 goals suffered.
Performance is repeated in other competitions. City got their place in the last 16 of the Champions League and secured their place in the English League Cup semi-finals. In January, will debut in the Glass of England. The calendar, although intense, makes the fans dream of the unprecedented achievement of the four cups in the same season.
Cast for this the Spanish coach has at hand. He eventually invested more than $ 1bn in hiring early in the season and possibly will still hire one or two reinforcements in the next transfer window, which will open in January.
In the previous match, which thrashed Bournemouth, 4-0 at Manchester, has already gained a boost. Recovered from injury, Belgian defender Vincent Kompany (eight matches in the 2017/2018 English Championship, no goal), participated throughout the match. The return of right-back Benjamin Mendy (four games, no goal) is expected soon, one of those hired for this season. He has been out of action since the end of September due to knee injury.
History of the matches Newcastle vs Manchester City
City have won seven of their last ten matches against Newcastle, who have won only once. There were still two draws.
Even if the game is at St. James Park, team performance leaves no room for risky guesswork. The City is the best guessing option with a price of 1.22 in Rivalo. Draw presents prize of 6.50 and success of the principals multiplies the investment by 12.00.
