Ahead of the visit of Newcastle on Saturday, we speak to Evin Grant of Read Newcastle to get the lowdown on Steve McClaren’s side.
If you could take one player from the City side to come into the Newcastle team, who would it be?
City have some phenomenal players in their team, both attacking wise and defensively. For me, Newcastle’s biggest problem lies at the back. I’d have to go for big Vinny Kompany – he’s a leader, a fighter and gives his all. He could single-handedly solve our defensive problems, and with him alongside Mbemba, we’d be difficult to score against.
Newcastle haven’t really got going so far this season though you did play extremely well and were unlucky to draw against Chelsea last weekend. Could this be the turning point you need?
That’s the understatement of the year! We are a club that breathes inconsistency. We play well against the bigger teams, and flop against the lower teams. With that being said, we did manage to go up there and get a win last season in the cup, so who knows? Maybe we could cause an upset. It’s a big maybe.
McClaren set his side out quite defensively in his last trip to Manchester against United and claimed a 0-0 draw. Will he adopt a similar approach against City?
It’s hard to tell. Yes, we did play a more defensive line-up against Manchester United, but we played 2 up top in our 2-2 draw with Chelsea. Ayoze and Mitrovic up top were fantastic, and McClaren could well go with the same formation against City. I’ll be disappointed if those two strikers don’t start.
Who would you identify as Newcastle’s key player who could hurt City?
I’d have to go with young Ayoze Perez. We signed him for just £2m two summers ago, and haven’t looked back since. He has often featured off the bench, with the majority of fans wanting him to start. He has scored against Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea in the past. On the counter attack, I think he’s the man you guys ought to look out for. A very clever player.
And who do you fear coming up against the most in the City side?
One man who always does well against us is David Silva. He’s a magician. Many would expect me to choose Aguero , but it’s Silva who will probably cause us the most problems. We’re pretty vulnerable in defensive midfield, as Payet showed a few weeks back , and I’m very, very anxious to see how Silva does.
It’s fair to say that Newcastle have quite a lengthy injury list for the Etihad trip. How would you expect the team to line up?
Nobody can ever predict our line-ups! Very unpredictable indeed. I’ll go for: Krul, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Mbabu, Wijnaldum, Anita, Sissoko, Obertan, Ayoze, Mitrovic.
Finally can we get a score prediction from you?
2-1 City.
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