England trio keep their places for Newcastle clash | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made eight changes from the side that beat Watford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Kyle Walker is the only player to have started our last two matches and captains the side again.

England team-mate Jack Grealish also retains his place as does Rico Lewis although he could potentially move into midfield with the long-term absence of Rodrigo.

The pair are two of three changes from the side that drew our Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday with Mateo Kovacic also starting.

TEAMS

NEWCASTLE XI: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Hall, Joelinton, Guimaraes, Tonali, Gordon, J Murphy, Barnes

Subs: Dubrabvka, Krafth, Osula, Livramento, Almiron, Kelly, Willock, Longstaff, A Murphy

CITY XI: Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Stones, Doku, Savinho, Nunes, Foden, McAtee

FORMATION

Pep Guardiola has plenty of options to manoeuvre his players around the pitch for what is a huge test against the Magpies.

Ahead of Ederson in goal, Walker and Josko Gvardiol are likely to be the full-backs either side of Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias.

That could mean a double pivot of Lewis and Kovacic at the base of midfield with Grealish and Bernardo Silva wide.

Ilkay Gundogan could then move into number 10 role, giving support to Erling Haaland who returns to lead the line.

Big misses

Last season’s victory at St James’ Park was a big moment in the title race as two goals in the last 15 minutes secured a huge 3-2 win.

More than eight months on, Newcastle have not lost at home since to underline the quality and determination we showed to grab those big three points.

But it’s also a reminder of the injuries that have hit us in the opening weeks of the campaign with City missing so many of the architects of that late turnaround.

Kevin De Bruyne turned the game on its head with the equaliser but is unavailable today, as is matchwinner Oscar Bobb, who suffered a cruel leg fracture just before the start of the season.

Nathan Ake and Rodrigo also featured in that game and are both injured with the latter set to miss the whole campaign after a knee ligament injury.

They are all huge losses but Guardiola says his side will find a way to compete for silverware despite being without key players.

“The team is good, the players are extraordinary in mindset and togetherness and we are going to try and do it,” the boss said ahead of today’s game.

WATCH: Newcastle v City: Memorable Moments

Facts and figures

Newcastle have won just one of their last 33 Premier League games against City - a 2-1 home win in January 2019 under Rafael Benítez.

We have scored in each of their last 31 Premier League games against Newcastle, the longest scoring streak one team has against another in the competition’s history.

In our Premier League history, City have won more games (31), more away games (12) and scored more goals (101) against Newcastle than they have against any other opponent.

Newcastle are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League home games, winning six and drawing four. City were the last side to beat them at St James’ Park in January.

City are unbeaten in our last 28 league games, with John Stones keeping that run going courtesy of a 98th minute equaliser against Arsenal last time out. In total, 24 of these games have been in 2024, the longest run without a Premier League defeat from the start of a calendar year since Chelsea in 2008 (26).

Newcastle have scored in each of their last 21 Premier League home games, since a 0-0 draw with Leicester in May 2023. It’s the longest ongoing home scoring streak of any side in the competition.

Newcastle have faced more shots from high turnovers than any other side in the Premier League this season (15), while no side have scored more such goals so far than City (two).

City have scored more goals (four) and had more shots (40) from outside the box than any other side in the Premier League this season. 40% of our attempts from distance (16/40) came in the second half of our most recent match against Arsenal.

Harvey Barnes has been involved in a goal in each of his last four Premier League games for Newcastle (3 goals, 1 assist), his joint best-ever run in the top-flight. Overall, he averages a goal or assist every 87 minutes for the Magpies (8 goals, 4 assists in 1042 minutes), the best rate of any player at the club (min. 1,000 mins).

Erling Haaland has scored 10 goals in five Premier League games this season, the earliest a player has ever reached double figures from the start of a campaign in the competition. The Norwegian could become only the second player ever to score in each of a team’s first six matches of a Premier League season, after Sergio Aguero did so for us in 2019/20.