Matheus Nunes makes title race prediction after Manchester City defeat to Newcastle United | OneFootball

Matheus Nunes has sent a rallying call to his Manchester City teammates after they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at St. James’ Park on Saturday evening.

City’s title hopes were dealt a major blow in Tyneside as Harvey Barnes’ brace inflicted a fourth defeat of the Premier League campaign on Pep Guardiola’s men, who slipped to third place in the league table after Chelsea’s 2-0 win away at Burnley hours before kick-off in Newcastle.

Arsenal can extend their gap at the top of the tree to six points with three points over Tottenham in a hotly-contested north London derby on Sunday, with all eyes on the Emirates Stadium after Liverpool and Manchester City fell to shock defeats on Saturday.

The Gunners are in pole position to go on and win the Premier League title in May after making a blistering start to the season, which has catapulted Mikel Arteta and co well apart from the likes of City and Liverpool in the table.

However, Guardiola and members of his title-winning sides of the recent past will know that while the Premier League cannot be won in the autumn, it certainly can be lost in the early months of the season.

Speaking in the aftermath of Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday, Matheus Nunes conceded that his side were far from their best in Tyneside but remain in the title race despite their rocky start to the 2025-26 season.

“We had a lot of chances we could have converted, and we would be talking through a different game. But this is football. We didn’t take our chances, they took it so it is what it is,” Nunes said in conversation with Manchester City’s official channels.

City squandered a host of presentable chances on the night and having entered the fixture with 11 wins in their previous 14 games in all competitions, Nunes believes that the Blues would have made much more of the opportunities that fell their way on another day.

“Today wasn’t our day. If it was on another day, we would’ve put all the balls in the net and the result would be different. I don’t think there is any magical explanation,” the Portugal international added.

“Any defeat would be frustrating. The good part is that we have another game in two or three days. And that’s our focus now.

“There’s still a lot of points to play. Pretty sure we’re going to be there [competing for the title] in the end.”

City can return to winning ways in midweek against Bayer Leverkusen as Guardiola and co look to take another important step towards qualification for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 with three points at the Etihad Stadium.