Manchester City v Newcastle – Match preview.

Posted on October 2nd, 2010 | 61 Comments |

Eastlands - The home of Manchester City.
Eastlands - The home of Manchester City.
Newcastle head to Eastlands on Sunday where they will be looking to bounce back from last weekends disappointing 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Stoke City.

The task is an unenviable one and I would happily shake hands on a point now without us having to play the match. Somehow I don’t think that City will quite go for that mind!

As Paul Reece highlighted in his ‘Top ten facts and stats to know about Manchester City’, Newcastle are without a win in at Man City in the last 17 visits. Given the quality on show at Manchester City currently I don’t hold out much hope of that run coming to an end come Sunday afternoon. Mind you, most of us said the same thing about the Everton and Chelsea matches, and look what happened there!

Pablo Zabaleta will miss the game after picking up a hamstring injury during the Europa League match against Juventus midweek whilst Nigel de Jong, David Silva and former Magpie, James Milner, will be pushing for a recall to the starting XI after being rested midweek. Adam Johnson, goalscorer in midweek, will be looking to start the match against the team he supported as a boy.

Last time out it was Manchester City who came out on top in what was billed as a title tussle by some. Whilst that tag may be a bit premature it should be noted that City stifled Chelsea and ground their way to a 1-0 win. They played in that game with a team of;

Man City – Joe Hart, Dedryck Boyata, Kolo Touré, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Touré, Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry, David Silva, James Milner, Carlos Tevez.

Newcastle could soon welcome back Danny Simpson and Danny Guthrie as they have both stepped up training and are scheduled to play in the reserves during the week whilst Sol Campbell is fit to feature after recovering from a slight thigh injury that kept him out of the game against Stoke. Steven Taylor is still a couple of weeks away from resuming full training leaving only Steve Harper and Dan Gosling as long term injury casualties for Newcastle.

Team selection has been a hotly debated topic all week and from what I can tell by the noises that Chris Hughton has been making I don’t envisage there being too many changes from the team that played in the Stoke debacle. I think that Jonas Gutierrez may be recalled to the starting line-up at the expense of Hatem Ben Arfa and wouldn’t be surprised if that was the only change. That would leave us with a team looking like;

Newcastle – Tim Krul, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique*, Wayne Routledge, Cheick Tiote, Joey Barton, Jonas Gutierrez, Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll.

* Jose Enrique will make his 100th appearance for Newcastle if he plays.

As I alluded to earlier, I’m personally not expecting us to get much out of the game. I would like us to have a go and put in a good performance, and if we could sneak a draw it would be a fantastic result.

Unfortunately I feel that Manchester City will have too much for us and that we will be on the end of another defeat as we head into the international break.

My prediction: Man City 3-0 Newcastle.

Howay the lads!

Date – Sunday, 3rd October, 2010.

Kick-off – 1:30pm.

Venue – The City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester (obviously).

NUFC Blog’s “Opposite View” on the Man City Blog (by workyticket).

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

61 Responses

  1. Good review fella; I write for a City site and stumbled upon this whilst checking newsnow. I went for a 3-1 City win. Toon aint had anything at Eastlands/Maine Road in recent years and don’t think that’ll change on Sunday.
    That being said this is not the easy tie that some City fans would have us believe. And Andy C has real potential (is in my fantasy footy team so he must be good)and I like your manager.
    Hope you have a good day in rainy Manchester – mostly a good set of fans at The Toon – but also hope you go away with no points in the bag.
    Hope you stay up (and you should, way too much crap in the PL and NU aint included in that IMO) but that first season back is always tough. But if you do stay up, I reckon you’ll be established in the PL again (after that dreadful relegation season)and can build on it. Always had a soft spot for The Toon – great to watch (mostly) and a massive club that warrants success (but NEVER at City’s expense – CTID).
    Keep up the good work. Love quality fansites.

  2. ANDYWEDGE nice to here another view m8,but most on here would agree that worky and toonsy do a great job

  3. I expect it to be closer than 3-0. They’ve already struggled against Sunderland, Blackburn and Wigan and the creative burden is seemingly carried solely by Carlos Tevez as they rely on a compact defensive midfield three.

    Carroll could ruffle a few feathers and I think we can provide a pretty decent match in midfield with Barton fired-up and the impressive Tiote settling in nicely.

    Man City 2 – 1 Newcastle
    Tevez,Milner Carroll

  4. ANDYWEDGE

    Nice to see a fan on this blog from a different club who has a repectful view (ie who isnt a mackem slagging off NUFC)

  5. I’m going to the game, I’m sitting with the enemy! Really not looking forward to it. Sitting very close to the toon so be nice lads… One of ur own will be close by.

  6. icedog says:
    October 2, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    “ANDYWEDGE nice to here another view m8,but most on here would agree that worky and toonsy do a great job”

    Thanks Toonsy / Andywedge.

    Icedog, divven’t forget about our new recruit! ;-)

  7. andywedge nice one mate ;)
    Toonsy I would be surprised if Benny didn’t start, I didn’t expect much from this game but I feel better now after your prediction ;)

  9. Did you guys see what Mancini and Milner had to say today? (Just copying and pasting this from what I put on maineblue)Milner, especially deserves a welcom from the travelling fans after his complimentary comments, and I hope Barton doesn’t get too much grief from the City boo boys. Always loved him at City but it ended badly so he might get a bit of grief.

    Mancini has confessed to being an admirer of Andy Carroll and he knows that if his defenders can keep him quiet for 90 minutes, the Blues will have gone a long way to shutting out the Geordie attack.

    “Carroll is a very good young player who will be a threat from set pieces. We need to make sure we stop the supply of crosses to him or he could hurt us. We want to go into the international break with a victory because last time there was a break, we lost to Sunderland and it was frustrating that we had to wait so long before we played again.”

    Speaking to the official City site James Milner added that City must keep an eye on the Magpies English striker.

    “Andy was coming through when I was up there. He’s got a good attitude. He’s a good finisher who can use both feet and he’s strong, a real handful in the air who will cause problems for any defence. If he gets the supply he’s dangerous, but we’ve been solid at the back so far so hopefully we’ll deal with that.”

    The former Toon favourite said, “It’ll be nice to see a few old faces, Newcastle are a great club, and it’s a great place to play your football. They’ll bring a big support and it will be a tough game; I gave my all when I played for them. It’s a massive game; we need to sign off with another win and another three points before the international break. It can be frustrating if you don’t get the result then you spend the lay-off thinking about it. Newcastle’s confidence is high. They had a great season; the Championship is not an easy division to get out of but they did it convincingly, and they’ve started this season pretty well. They’re a threat going forward and Chris Hughton has them organised very well, so they’ll be hard to break down.”

  10. icedog says:
    October 2, 2010 at 10:28 pm

    “WORKY got to serve his time m8.

    as in building team work takes time”

    Ice, heve you read our bit on the Man City blog yet?

  11. I was starting to worry but now ive seen toonsy prediction i feel better,how many years since we won at chelsea mmmmmmmmmmmmm

  15. Just watching MOTD….. Carl Henry is a dirty player people give Barton shit but Henry is worse

  16. Been on a few Wolves sites sites stoking the firs so to speak ;)

    Fair play to them, well a lot of them. They are condemning Henry now. Shame they didn’t listen when we told them, or when Zamora had his leg broke….

  17. Alreet lads,early finish for me off the drink and have had me chinese…..early finish required due to travel to Citeh….andywedge…good comments mate and it makes a refreshing change for oppo fans to write sense and they’re own opinion and not judge us on what they’ve read in the media………..2 big clubs with great histories and loyal fans(ours slightly greater) ;-) but your slightly more recent :-)
    My optimistic side says a draw so I’ll stick with that :-)…………..though we’ll probably get beat but only by he odd goal!

    Ice..I made next to nowt renting oot ya scooter ;-)

  18. Toonsy …………he’s a dirty little sh!t and a coward, as I’ve said with the Joey Barton tackles yes he won the ball on the whole, if your intent is to take tha player after winning the ball(his was) then its a foul.So all those people(Wolves fans,coaching staff) who said he won the ball, yes ya right but it’s still a foul you t!ts.

  20. Toonsy……..17 visits to Eastlands?.have I been asleep…….soz I’m a narky tw@t after a drink ;-)

  22. nice to read citeh fans comments which are not too anarchic , call to war etc…

    I fear andywedge is right if anything citeh are trying to make city of manch stadium into a fortress and expect 3 or 1 point minimum each time they play .. unfortunately dont think we are capable yet of 3 or 1 point there , so looks like a miserable journey back home for toon , would love it to be diff, but cannot see it sorry….

  23. dear toonsy …or does anyone know how to retrieve my profile picture and upload it again seem to have lost it had a great pic of supermac gone…

  24. if milner does happen to score against us hope he doesnt be a right arse and rub it in that would not go down to well

  25. Think Jimmy Milner has more class and respect than that nufc337; anyway, he wont score – creates and menaces but not banging them in yet for us – that’s Tevez’ job.

  26. 6-0 Man City win~~~

    Tevez brace, Adam Johnson,Yaya Touré,Emmanuel Adebayor, James Milner.

  27. Off topic, but does anyone know when Andy Carroll’s court case is? Hoping for a favourable outcome obviously as we don’t want to be without him now.

  29. Jill….just know its sometime this month….I’m guessing he’s got an expensive lawyer and because he’s pleaded not guilty I’m assuming his lawyer is pretty sure og getting him off or at worst off lightly……………..lots of assuming and guessing there tho ;-)

  31. jay jay…had me fry up having a cuppa now then shower then doon to Citeh…Howay the Lads :-)

  32. Gonna grab a bite to eat in birmingham, got the shower on now, get 4 trains and arrive at Piccadilly at midday, love matchdays, even if they’re blurry :)

  34. AC case is 25th I think.

    I think 3-1 too; just like I thought for Chelski and Everton :)

    Those going – keep up the noise! So important in these away games to big clubs! And give Milner a cheer for us; he’s a good sort.

  37. out can happen they hadint won at our place since 76 until last week ,we won at chelski everton ,could sneak a draw if we play very well heres hoping anyway .

  40. Anyone want a prawn sarny thrown out for them today?

    I’m goin 2-0 city (which probably means we’ll win!)

  41. JAY JAY cheers m8,,aye m8 you missed it last time,did you know that kid died the one that got on the train roof you were on about.

    its the “new”thing they call it train-surfing,sad like

  42. lads..this game is going to be played..who wonts it the most..it is pissing down here and has been all night..the pitch will be under water soon..might be called off..keep raining will be better for us..

  43. ben arfa must be given a free role today..if we are going to get anything..cant play him on the wing..as he likes coming for the ball..let him play free..so he can hurt them down the middle..look at van der vart..and he is better player then him..take note ch were he played him yesterday..not on the wing let him pull the strings..

  45. Happy days to those lads going to City today.
    Will be watching every minute.
    Have been before and its a decent stadium. Away fans get decent seats.

    Only problem is the sreets are littered with ginger heeded smackheeds

  46. Will be at work unfortunately but me heart and Head will be with the Toon!!

    Jay Jay @44 as a Train Driver i’m fully aware of the dangers of going any higher on a train than my cab doorway but the Younger people of today seem to be intent on trying to get bigger thrills! I’ve seen video footage of them laying between the tracks and the train goes straight over them, unfortunately they don’t appreciate the effect this has on the drivers….Some can never work again. Personally as it’s never happened to me I’m yet to find out how i’d react, and I hope I never have to find out.

    I’ll just mention on here to any youngster that is thinking of trying Train surfing that the electricity from the cables in the right conditions CAN jump 9 feet!! Please please don’t try it, you may get away with it once or even twice but it will kill you in the end and in a very painful manner.

    Anyway C’MON THA TOON!!!

  47. Someone threw the lads shoes on top of the train and he climbed up to get them, shame. Howay the lads :)

  48. Train surfing? I mean what sort of thought process must go on in the minds of those who think that is a good idea?

    As Maverick says, nobody thinks about the effects it will have on the driver. It’s the same with people who jump. If they want to kill themselves then fair enough, but don’t destroy an innocent persons life with it FFS! Pure selfishness.

    One of my drivers had a someone jump off a motorway bridge in front of him, and he hasn’t been able to work since. Everytime he tries he breaks down. All because of the actions of one selfish twat who has had enough. They should just get some painkillers and a bottle of vodka and go quietly.

  50. andy gray! wonts newcastle 2 go down..he has nothing good to say about us..fu.k me it must be a poor league..if he thinks are side is worse then wolves blackburn wigan and blackpool..anyway lets shut this prick up..

  51. still pissing down..how much water can a pitch take..if it starts the ball wont be rolling..plenty of cards.

  52. Howay the Lads-Going for a City win today (every time I pick and opposition to win we win so that’s the reason)

    Would love us to cause an upset but can’t see it myself.

  55. Batty – I’ll get that at half 12 hot off the press ;)

    And if anyone asks if it’s official again I will locate them, slice their fingers off and insert them up their jacksie :mad:

  58. All good Batty Cheers Mate-Don’t blog as much I go through phases :lol:
    You ok Fella?