Game Week 6 Predictions: City to punish Newcastle for Arsenal's sins

Newcastle hosts Manchester City at St. James' Park in a crucial early game. Injuries plague both teams as City aims to bounce back from last weekend.

Newcastle has it all to do against Manchester City, they will suffer as the visitors will hope to bounce back from last weekend's tough game against Arsenal, can Newcastle earn a result against City? (Photo credit: Opta)

 

Newcastle vs. Manchester City

St. James’s Park

12:30pm

It’s a lunchtime kickoff for the champions this weekend; unlike the final fixture of the game week, which they had last time out, they will file out before anyone else, in the sunshine before the packed stadium, hoping to silence the Gallagher end.

Newcastle hasn’t been explosive this season, but a win here could take them as high as second, and in fact, they will only be second on goal difference, a huge incentive for the Magpies, which serves as the right motivation.

The champions faced a challenging weekend against Arsenal; Erling Haaland gave them a lead, but two goals from Arsenal pulled them back. Ricardo Calafiori scored a stunning goal into the top corner, and Gabriel scored another stunning goal shortly after.

Just before the halftime whistle went off, Arsenal went down to ten men. After the referee blew for a City free kick, Leandro Trossard received his matching orders for deliberately kicking the ball away, thereby delaying the restart.

Newcastle lost last time out at Fulham; they missed loads of chances but were also poor defensively. It was a huge reality check, and they will hope to correct their mistakes against a juggernaut of an opponent; they can’t make mistakes against the champions.

Both sides are suffering from injuries; the visitors will be without Rodri, who tore his ACL in the game against Arsenal, and Kevin De Bruyne was substituted at halftime against Inter Milan last week; both will miss this fixture at St. James’s Park.

The hosts are without a few key players; it’s been a horror show for Newcastle on the injury front; Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson are both unavailable, leaving Anthony Gordon as a false nine option, and Eddie Howe has a lot to deal with.

How will they line up? Newcastle will marshal the midfield with Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, and Joelinton, while Pep Guardiola's midfield setup in the absence of KDB and the Spanish Euro winner remains uncertain.

Newcastle led City 2-0 in this fixture last season before KDB came on to change the game. It was the fixture that introduced Oscar Bobb to the Premier League, but the Norwegian isn't available for this game; it should be entertaining.

Verdict: Manchester City to win.