MANCHESTER City’s tilt at a seventh league title in nine seasons faces what should be a stern test when Newcastle United visit the Etihad today.
Indeed, this is a fixture that carries far more danger than the league table suggests.
Pep Guardiola’s City sit second, five points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand, while Newcastle – often a formidable foe, even on the road – somehow find themselves in 12th place. Any semblance of complacency from City will almost certainly be punished.
Eddie Howe’s side arrive with confidence, fuelled by a midweek Champions League victory in which Anthony Gordon scored four first-half goals in a 6-1 thrashing of Qarabag.
But City remain City. They are the league’s most sophisticated unit – a machine designed to keep the ball for long periods before unleashing the venom of ruthless, precise attacking options.
Yet for all their sleekness, City are not as bulletproof as they once were – certainly not in the manner that saw them win four league titles on the trot before Liverpool’s intervention last season.
Even so, Guardiola’s side are back in familiar February territory: controlling matches and winning through sheer depth.
A key duel that could shape the outcome of this one is Rodri versus Bruno Guimaraes.
Should Rodri keep Guimaraes pinned deep in the Magpies’ half, Newcastle will struggle to build. But if Guimaraes escapes that attention, the visitors could have their say – particularly through Gordon.
Gordon’s willingness to go at defenders head-on is the sort of direct running that can throw City off balance and tip the scales Newcastle’s way. His four goal blitz in midweek, and his penalty-taker disagreement with Kieran Trippier – expertly downplayed afterwards – underline the threat Newcastle bring to Manchester.
That said, Newcastle will know that if they can survive City’s first 25 minutes, they will have a chance to turn the match into the kind of transitional contest they thrive on. Conversely, if they don’t, it will become another slow squeeze.
City should win today and keep the pressure on Arsenal, all the while consolidating their own bid for the crown in May. — By SHAUN ORANGE
