City are back in action and back at the Etihad on Saturday, after having over a week off since the 4-1 win against Stoke last Wednesday. Newcastle United are the visitors to Manchester, in the opposite league game to the one we started the season with all the way back in August.
However, all City fans will be hoping this visit from the Toon is happier than the last one, in October when Newcastle knocked us out of the Capital One Cup after a truly dismal performance from us. We slinked out from that game 2-0 losers, but thankfully that result kicked us into shape for a time, and we went on the beat United in the derby a few days later. Moral victory then.
When we faced Newcastle at St. James’ Park back in August, we managed to get a slightly better result as we left the north-east on the title charge (if it can be called that after one game of the season) thanks to goals from Silva and Agüero that gave us a 2-0 win and put us top of the league at the time.
It’s been 18 months since we last had a visit from the Magpies in the league, in the first game of the 2013-14 season, Manuel Pellegrini’s competitive debut as City manager. That day, we showed signs of things to come as we romped to a 4-0 victory thanks to four different scorers – Silva, Agüero, Touré, and Nasri. That win again put as on top of the league, and the game showed us just what we could expect from the new Chilean manager.
City again go into Saturday’s game with no injuries, and now with the added boost of having Yaya Touré and Wilfried Bony back from international duty. Much of the talk this week has been about whether Bony will make his debut in the starting lineup, presumably alongside Agüero. He’s certainly fit enough, having played in all of Ivory Coast’s games at the African Cup of Nations, but it remains to be seen whether Pellegrini feels he is ready. Yaya is almost certain to go straight back into the starting line-up, having been severely missed during his absence.
Newcastle are having less luck with injuries, and could potentially have seven players out ahead of their trip to the champions. Sammy Ameobi is the only returnee from an ankle injury, whilst Paul Dummett (knee), Siem De Jong (collapsed lung), Cheick Tioté (knee), Steven Taylor (calf) and Rob Elliott (hip) all remain out. The Magpies could also be without Rolando Aarons (hamstring) and Rémy Cabella (knock) who both have late fitness tests prior to the game.
This game is of paramount importance to City for a number of reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, the game against Barcelona is soon after the visit of Newcastle, and a win could give the players a huge boost going into that massive game, in which confidence will be key. City also need to win to keep the pressure on Chelsea, who host Burnley on Saturday, and could be 10 points clear before City kick off.
