Manchester City Vs. Newcastle United Prediction: Struggling For The Way To The Champions League

JAKARTA - The exciting match between the two top Premier League teams will be held on Saturday 15 February, when Manchester City host Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium. This match is a fierce battle for the top four, where both teams are currently fifth and sixth in the standings.

This will be the team's first meeting since their 1-1 draw at St James' Park in September last year.

Manchester City has just had a difficult moment in recent weeks. Three days after a narrow win over Leyton Orient in the fourth round of the FA Cup, City again suffered a mental breakdown in the Champions League. They failed to defend a one-goal lead and instead lost 3-2 to Real Madrid in the first leg of the playoffs on Tuesday 11 February.

The defeat adds to City's poor record for failing to win the game five times despite winning all competitions this season. This figure is the same as their number of failures in the last four seasons combined. Fatal mistakes continue to haunt Pep Guardiola's side, who now appears to be losing their competitiveness.

Before trying to turn things around in the second leg against Real Madrid next week, City will have to focus on returning to the Premier League. Currently, they are in fifth place with 36 points from 24 matches (M12 S5 K7), 18 points behind leaders Liverpool. City are also two points behind Chelsea in fourth place and only ahead of Newcastle's goal difference in sixth place.

Even so, City fans can breathe a little easier considering the record for their team which is quite dominant over Newcastle. City have only lost once in their last 34 meetings against Newcastle in the Premier League (M27 S6) and have won 15 consecutive home games against The Magpies. This record places City as one of the team with the longest home win streak over one opponent in Premier League history.

On the other hand, Newcastle has not won at home to City since September 2000, when City was still based at Maine Road. The Magpies even failed to score in their last five visits to Etihad. However, Newcastle came with high confidence after winning four consecutive away games in the Premier League, including a win over Manchester United (2-0), Tottenham (2-1), and Arsenal (2-0).

Newcastle also just beat Birmingham City 3-2 in the fourth round of the FA Cup last week, thanks to two goals from Joe Willock and one goal from Callum Wilson. This victory adds to their streak of away wins in all competitions to six matches.

In addition, Newcastle also managed to advance to the EFL Cup final after beating Arsenal 4-0 on aggregate in the semifinals. Eddie Howe's side now has two big targets: ending their 70-year title fast and winning a Champions League ticket next season.

However, the path to the top four will not be easy. Newcastle will face three strong teams in the next three Premier League games: Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, and Liverpool. They also still have to face Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Arsenal for the rest of the season. However, Newcastle have collected 11 points from six matches against the teams, indicating that they are able to compete at the highest level.

City is monitoring the condition of Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji who suffered a muscle injury in the middle of the week. Both are doubtful about appearing against Newcastle. Oscars Bobb and Nico Gonzalez are also still under monitoring, while Rodri remains absent in the long term.

If Akanji is absent, Guardiola will likely field Rico Lewis or Matheus Nunes on the right side of the defense. Nathan Ake, who has just recovered from injury, could return to play after an hour's appearance against Real Madrid.

Guardiola is also still considering whether to keep John Stones in midfield or give Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, or Bernardo Silva an opportunity. On the wing, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, and Phil Foden will compete for a place at the starting XI.

Newcastle still has to deal with the absence of Jamaal Lasceles (knee injury) and Harvey Barnes (must injury). Meanwhile, Anthony Gordon (magnetic injury), Joelinton (knee injury), mitigating Botman (knee injury), and Dan Burn (feet injury) are still doubtful and will undergo an examination approaching kickoff.

Goalkeeper Nick Pope returned to the starting XI in the last game, and Eddie Howe had to decide whether to keep him or recall Martin Dubravka.

Fabian Schar, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali, Jacob Murphy, and Alexander Isak are expected to return to the starting XI after becoming a substitute in the FA Cup. Isak himself has scored 10 of his 17 league goals in away games this season, although he has never scored in three visits to Etihad.

Despite Newcastle in good form, City's solid home record and their desire to rise from the last defeat could be a decisive factor. City are expected to win a narrow victory in this fierce match.

Manchester City: Ortega; Nunes, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Gonzalez, Kovacic; Savinho, Foden, Marmoush; Haaland

Newcastle United: Dubravka; Livramento, Botman, Schar, Hall; Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon

Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United