Newcastle United vs Manchester City 30/11/19

30 November 2019

Saturday’s Premier League (PL) action starts at St. James Park as Newcastle United take on Manchester City.

The hosts come into this encounter after a dismal 2-0 away defeat to Aston Villa that kept them in the bottom half of the table. Unsurprisingly, nine of their total 15 PL points have come on home turf (60%), with just one of their six league defeats arriving at St. James Park. Immense problems in the final third have tormented Newcastle so far this season, as they’ve netted just five goals in six PL home outings on an average of 0.83 goals scored per home fixture. But, Steve Bruce can still rely on a rock-solid defense that has kept two home clean sheets thus far, restricting their opponents to a maximum of one goal per match in the remaining four. What’s more, the Magpies are unbeaten in their last five PL home games (W2, D3), with both of their wins in that sequence coming via a single-goal margin.

Meanwhile, the visitors have endured mixed fortunes in their last five matches in all competitions (W2, D2, L1), with each of them seeing both teams score. A 2-1 home triumph over Chelsea last time out has helped the reigning holders keep their title hopes alive, as they remain nine points adrift of league toppers Liverpool. But, City’s recent away form could be a major influence here, as the Citizens lost two of their previous four PL road fixtures, winning the remaining two. Three of those results (win/loss) have come via a two-goal margin and saw the winners on the day open the scoring in the first half. Pep Guardiola’s men are odds-on favorites here, nevertheless, as they’ve won eight of their previous 11 top-flight away H2Hs with Newcastle, losing once (W8, D2, L1).