Manchester City vs Newcastle United. Premier League.
Etihad StadiumAttendance54,452.
Saturday 20 January 2018 17:04, UK
Manchester City will be looking to return to winning ways when they host Newcastle on Saturday.
Manchester City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season last weekend as they were beaten 4-3 by Liverpool.
Despite the setback, City remain 12 points clear at the top of the table, and manager Pep Guardiola said: "I've won a lot of leagues and titles and you always drop points and lose games. It's normal and you have to live with it. You have to realise how hard it is to do what we have done so far.
"I always said we have a lot of games to win to be champions. We are now going to try again in the next game against Newcastle."
Since losing 1-0 at home to Manchester City in late December, Newcastle are unbeaten in the Premier League, drawing with Swansea and Brighton and beating Stoke.
They start the weekend three points above the relegation zone, with a potential takeover still yet to happen.
Man City have a problem at left-back after Fabian Delph (knee) joined the injury list.
Delph, who had been covering for long-term casualty Benjamin Mendy (knee) could be sidelined for at least a few weeks. Other options include Danilo and youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Captain Vincent Kompany (calf) remains doubtful while striker Gabriel Jesus (knee) and midfielder Phil Foden (ankle) are unavailable.
Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic could return to the Newcastle squad after missing the last eight games with a back injury. He has returned to training and will hope to be involved at the Etihad.
Defenders Jesus Gamez (ankle) and Florian Lejeune (foot) are improving, but are not yet ready to return.
Manchester City are unbeaten in 20 Premier League matches against Newcastle (W17 D3) - it is their longest unbeaten run against a side in their league history.
Newcastle have lost each of their last eight away top-flight matches at Man City - they have only lost more consecutively against an opponent on one occasion, losing nine in a row away at Spurs between 1928 and 1956.
City have scored at least four goals in each of their last four home top-flight matches against Newcastle (19 scored in total) - the last team to achieve this in five in a row were Spurs against Blackburn in January 1966 (four or more in six consecutive games).
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Man City have lost just nine of their 87 Premier League home games, the joint-fewest of any side in that time to have played more than one season in the competition. Only three of these defeats have been against non 'big six' sides, though one of them was against Leicester when the Foxes won the title in 2015-16.
Sergio Aguero has had a hand in 13 Premier League goals against Newcastle (11 goals, 2 assists), averaging a goal or assist every 49 minutes; indeed, at the Etihad, Aguero averages a goal or assist every 31 minutes (8 goals, 1 assist in 283 minutes).
Matt Ritchie has mustered 40 shots in the Premier League this season without scoring, more than any other player in the division yet to find the back of the net.
I don't think Man City are going to come up against a team like Liverpool for the rest of the season, particularly in those 20 minutes in the second half.
They're a bit downbeat at Newcastle at the moment; the takeover failing, they needed to beat Swansea but didn't, I think it's a bit subdued there. I think they just want to get this game out of the way, and make sure it's not a huge defeat.
I think it's a case of leaving without many injuries and looking at how other teams got on below them.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (6/1 with Sky Bet)
