Newcastle to offer stern test to Manchester City | OneFootball

The northernmost stadium in the Premier League, St James’ Park, is famed for its impassioned and often intimidating atmosphere. Always a testing fixture for Manchester City, even in their pomp, Pep Guardiola’s side have often faced troubles when travelling to Newcastle. The Blues have been victorious on just one of their last four visits to the ground.

Now with a refreshed and rejuvenated squad, it will be interesting to see how the current iteration of Pep Guardiola’s side, possessing numerous younger and less experienced players, fares in the hostile surroundings.

Both sides need results

The clash comes at a potentially pivotal moment in the Premier League title race too. City are chasing down an Arsenal side that had looked ‘unstoppable’, as described by Guardiola. However, the Gunners slipped up just before the international break, allowing City to close the gap to just four points.

Mikel Arteta’s side have now been weakened by multiple injuries to key players on international duty and must host their bitter rivals, Tottenham, this Sunday. A victory for City at Newcastle would only increase the pressure on Arsenal in an already meaningful match, and, should the Gunners falter, momentum could swing firmly in favour of Guardiola’s side.

However, should it be the Blues who stumble, it would afford Arsenal the opportunity to re-establish their healthy lead at the top of the table. There is obviously still a long way to go, but who knows when they might next surrender points.

Newcastle, too, are in desperate need of what would be a big win. Despite the abundance of talent in Eddie Howe’s squad, the Magpies currently sit 14th in the league – a wholly underwhelming start to their campaign. After back-to-back 3-1 away defeats at the hands of West Ham and Brentford, a response in the league is necessary.

Misfiring transfers

The summer headlines in Newcastle were dominated by the Alexander Isak transfer saga and his eventual exit from the club to Liverpool. However, there were also a number of new signings brought in at St James Park, recruits who have had vastly differing fortunes in black and white so far.

Their biggest outlay was spent the $85M+ club record Nick Woltemade. The striker immediately hit the ground running on Tyneside. The six foot six forward has already netted six for and continued his fine form with three goals for Germany across the international break.

Fellow attacker Yoane Wissa, on the contrary, has been plagued with injury problems and is yet to take to the pitch in black and white. Anthony Elanga has featured 17 times and yet has been similarly anonymous, failing to record either a goal or an assist.

Jacob Ramsey has also struggled to adjust to his new surroundings, starting just once in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Malick Thiaw arrived from AC Milan and has integrated smoothly into the Magpie’s defence.

On paper, Newcastle’s recruitment could and should have made them a better side but that has not materialised thus far. Having had a few months to settle in, now is the time that Howe really needs his new men step up to the plate. If they continue to fail him, it will be his head on the chopping block.

City humming along

Guardiola has had no such issues with his summer additions. Tijjani Reijnders and Gianluigi Donnarumma have slotted seamlessly into his team. Rayan Aït-Nouri and Rayan Cherki have had some injury troubles, but the latter has returned and impressed in recent weeks.

A constant innovator, City’s boss has once again employed new tactics of late. The Catalan has been instructing his wingers to come inside, packing out the midfield and leaving space behind to be exploited.

This strategy helped the Blues overcome both Bournemouth and Liverpool with relative ease but could come unstuck up against Newcastle. The Magpies boast one of the strongest midfields in the division – the combative trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton. They seldom lose the midfield battle and it will be curious to see whether Guardiola takes them on in their own arena or reverts to a more conventional approach.