Manchester City – Newcastle United

Manchester City will secure a convincing victory over the visitors.

Manchester City, in the current season, are putting maximum effort and resources to reclaim the league title at the Etihad. It is clear that Josep Guardiola's team are giving their all, and it is paying off in the tight battle with the incredibly strong Arsenal. On Wednesday the Gunners gave Manchester City another chance to close the gap in the standings. If they beat Newcastle, the Citizens will be two points behind first place, which could subsequently be erased in any of the remaining eleven rounds. Not long ago Arsenal were ten points clear of their pursuers, but two disappointing slips in less than a week and a half led to the loss of such commanding dominance. Newcastle United will travel to the Etihad in good spirits. The Magpies recently flew to Azerbaijan, where in the Champions League qualifying round they defeated Qarabag 6-1. Anthony Gordon had already scored four goals in the first half. It is another matter that in the domestic championship, where all teams are a notch above Qarabag, Eddie Howe's team sits only tenth, rarely showing consistency. Bookmakers have made the home team the favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.46. Manchester City in the Champions League did everything to avoid the preliminary playoff round, in which the club were eliminated last year. Additionally, this privilege allows them to better prepare for the upcoming match with Newcastle, who endured a long journey and on Wednesday played a match in Baku with their starting XI. There is no need to discuss the hosts' motivation. The possibility to close in on Arsenal, whom bookmakers and experts have long dubbed the future champion, raises the value of three points in the upcoming meeting to the maximum. Newcastle itself has shown decent form in the last three matches. In the first they sacked Thomas Frank from the position of Tottenham coach with an away victory over Spurs. In the second, in the national cup, they benefited from a red card to Aston Villa. The third, and last, as mentioned above. However, before this run Newcastle had not won five in a row, so overrating the visitors would be premature. Manchester City will secure a comfortable victory.