Manchester City vs Newcastle Predictions

• Newcastle have lost three of their last four league matches.
• Ten of Newcastle’s 26 league matches this season have featured at least four goals.
• City have won ten and drawn two of their last 12 Premier League home matches.

City are right back in the race

Draws in Arsenal’s last two Premier League matches against Brentford and Wolves have left the door ajar for Manchester City to steam towards the title, and they look unlikely to reject the opportunity to narrow the gap to two points when they face Newcastle on Saturday night.

Pep Guardiola’s side needed a late goal at Liverpool earlier this month to effectively stay in the race, but they now have a great chance of putting the pressure on the Gunners before they face a north London derby at Tottenham on Sunday.

City built upon that come-from-behind Anfield victory with a 3-0 home success over Fulham in their last league outing, so confidence is bound to be high in the camp.

Magpies have picked up on the road

Newcastle have boosted their recent away record by securing a league victory at Tottenham, a 3-1 FA Cup success at Aston Villa and then a 6-1 victory at Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday that would have made the long trip home from Azerbaijan a lot more bearable.

The Magpies are well off the pace in the race for a Champions League place this time, but faith should be placed in both teams finding the net in this one, something that Eddie Howe’s side have experienced in each of their last seven outings.

They failed to score in their first three away games against Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth, all of which ended 0-0 but they have failed to notch in just three of their 17 road matches since the most recent of those goalless draws.

They made not have enough to see off City, but they are capable of scoring, so a home win with both teams finding the net is the preferred beat, while correct-score punters are pointed towards a repeat of the 3-1 win City enjoyed in the same fixture in the Carabao Cup semi-finals earlier this month.

Semenyo has hit the ground running

Guardiola would love to see some of his supporting cast release the goalscoring burden from Erling Haaland and he will be delighted with the way Antoine Semenyo has settled following his January move to the Etihad.

The former Bournemouth star has made an immediate impact, scoring in three of his last four league games against Wolves, Tottenham and Fulham and this is a good opportunity for him to build on that excellent start.