Newcastle United v Manchester City: Back Haaland to keep streak going despite Rodri's absence | OneFootball

English Premier League

Rodri could miss the rest of Manchester City's season

Manchester City managed to avoid defeat against Arsenal last weekend, and despite the loss of a key player, Kevin Hatchard believes they can pick up a positive result at Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime...

Erling Haaland Superboost

Erling Haaland has been in sensational form this season, scoring an incredible 10 goals in his first five Premier League games. The Norwegian striker has also registered 19 shots on target in that period.

Newcastle have conceded the third highest amount of shots on target this season (29 in five league games) so it seems inevitable that Haaland - who has had at least two shots on target in each of his last five games - will get some shots away on Saturday.

If you fancy the Man City striker to register at least two shots on target at St James' Park then you can back him at the super-boosted price of 1/1, from 1/2, to do so. Just click on the odds in the below banner to go directly to the pre-loaded betslip.

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Newcastle United v Manchester CitySaturday 28 September, 12:30Live on TNT Sports 1

Newcastle flattering to deceive

While Newcastle have racked up ten points across the first five Premier League matchdays, and are still in the League Cup, all is not well with the Magpies. There are rumours of frosty relations between manager Eddie Howe and new sporting director Paul Mitchell, after a frustrating summer that saw the club fail to land its top targets.

On the pitch there are concerns. In his Notebook elsewhere on this site, Lewis Jones has outlined the escalation in the number of shots Newcastle are conceding, while Mark O'Haire made the point on the latest episode of Football Only Bettor that the defeat at Fulham last weekend had been on the horizon for some time.

It's worth considering that injuries played their part in some of the negative trends, but there's no doubt that Howe has a lot to fix. Star striker Alexander Isak has an xG of just 1.5 across five Premier League games, and has only scored once. Alarmingly, the Swedish international has had just two shots on target across those five games.

Defensively there are issues too, with just one clean sheet kept in six competitive games, a 1-0 win over newly-promoted Southampton on the opening weekend of the campaign. Newcastle have managed just one shutout in their last 11 Premier League matches.

At least the home form is strong. Howe has overseen a run of ten home games without defeat in the Premier League, with six wins and four draws.

Harvey Barnes is expected to start after scoring in three straight top-flight matches, but Jamaal Lascelles, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson and Lewis Miley are all still struggling with injury.

City rocked by Rodri blow

While Erling Haaland understandably writes the majority of Manchester City's headlines, there's an argument to say that Rodri is the champions' most valuable player. He has led them to Premier League and Champions League success, and he was a key cog in the Spanish machine that deservedly claimed the summer's European Championship. A knee injury will now keep him out for most (if not all) of the season, and there's no getting away from the fact that Arsenal and Liverpool have seen their title prospects enhanced as a result.

Indeed, City's dramatic 2-2 draw with Arsenal - the game that saw Rodri injured - seems to have emboldened backers of the Gunners. Arsenal are 2.72 on the Exchange to win the Premier League, with City narrowly ahead on 2.56.

City can at least take solace from their terrific record against Newcastle. Opta tell us that they have lost just one of their last 33 Premier League meetings with the Magpies, and that was back in 2019. City have won 27 of those 33 clashes, and they have scored in the last 31, the longest scoring streak for one club against another in Premier League history.

Thanks to John Stones' last-gasp leveller against Arsenal last weekend, City are now unbeaten in 28 Premier League matches, with 24 of those coming in 2024. It's the best unbeaten start to a calendar year in the PL since Chelsea went 26 unbeaten from the start of 2008.

City are also without Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb, and Pep Guardiola is likely to make plenty of changes, after changing nine starters for the midweek League Cup win over Watford. Ederson should return in goal, with Erling Haaland up front.

Haaland too big a price to ignore

Erling Haaland has scored a whopping ten goals in his first five Premier League games of the season, an unprecedented feat. He could now become only the second player to score in the first six Premier League games of a season, after City legend Sergio Aguero did it in 2019.

Haaland was priced at 8/10 to score at one stage, and that has since been slashed to 8/11, but I still think that's a good price. I'll boost it to 8/5 on the Bet Builder by backing Both Teams To Score and Man City/Draw Double Chance. Even though the Newcastle attack could be functioning more efficiently, the Magpies have scored in their last 21 Premier League home matches, and they have netted in three of their last four home games against City in the top division.