Manchester City are required to defeat Newcastle United for a fourth time this season in order to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals and here is what the Opta Supercomputer thinks about the upcoming fixture.
In just a few hours’ time, a battle will commence at St James’ Park between the most familiar of foes, as Newcastle host Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round.
The Magpies were victorious when the sides met in the Premier League at the iconic ground, but City since won there in the Carabao Cup.
Pep Guardiola’s team have also twice defeated Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium, including as recently as last month, so another triumph would come as no surprise.
Opta Supercomputer rates Man City’s chances of beating Newcastle
The Opta Supercomputer has made its prediction for the latest edition of Newcastle vs Man City and the visitors apparently have a 42 per cent chance of securing a victory.
However, Newcastle have been handed a 31 per cent chance of success, which shows just how close this one could turn out to be.
This is in sharp contrast to the Supercomputer’s verdict last time the team’s met, as Man City were 58 per cent likely to win, while Eddie Howe’s team were only given a 19 per cent chance.
Newcastle are a tough team to predict
Man City dropping points against Nottingham Forest will have played a part in the Supercomputer’s prediction, but so will Newcastle’s most recent victory.
Since losing to City, Newcastle defeated Qarabag only to lose at home to Everton. Despite this, they conquered Manchester United on Wednesday, even after Jacob Ramsey was sent off.
These results make the hosts of tonight’s fixture a very difficult team to predict, so the fact the Supercomputer is going for a closely contested tie is understandable.
