Man City v Newcastle

Manchester City vs Newcastle Preview

Manchester City will take on one of their expected rivals for this season's Premier League title in the shape of Newcastle United when the two teams face off at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night with both sides heading into this clash on the back of comprehensive wins in last weekend's season openers.

Manchester City began their defence of last season's title with a resounding 3-0 win away from home at Burnley as Pep Guardiola once again did battle with one of his former charges, Vincent Kompany, but Pep came out on top once again.

The Citizens were dealt just the single defeat on home soil at their Etihad Stadium last season which came in the form of a 2-1 loss to Brentford who actually ended up doing the ‘double' over Pep's side with wins away and at home over the course of last term.

Saturday's hosts finished last season's triumphant campaign winning the treble and having suffered just the one defeat in their last 17 matches of the Premier League term, Manchester City will be tough to beat again this season.

Indeed, City won their last 10 home games on the trot, scoring two goals in nine of these 10 games as well.

Newcastle United produced a breakthrough season last term under manager, Eddie Howe, as The Magpies achieved an excellent fourth place finish in the Premier League table which also secured Champions League football for the north-east club this term.

Having flexed their financial muscle since the takeover, Newcastle United flexed their muscle on the pitch in last weekend's season opener against Aston Villa, a team that had also over-achieved under Unai Emery last season, finishing in seventh place.

Nevertheless, Newcastle simply brushed the west midlands club aside in a comprehensive 5-1 rout at St James' Park which will give the visitors plenty of confidence ahead of this tough looking trip to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The Magpies head into this clash having lost just twice in their last 15 matches overall in the English top flight which included 10 victories, while on the road, Eddie Howe's side have lost just two of their previous 16 outings on the road, thus giving them a chance of gaining something from this encounter.

Manchester City v Newcastle United Verdict

Of course, all of this could end up being purely academic as Manchester City are head and shoulders above the rest of the competition right now and having won seven of the previous eight meetings against The Magpies, Manchester City look the more likely to gain the upper hand once again over their visitors on their way to collecting early back-to-back victories in defence of their title.

Therefore, our main bet will be Man City win @ 1.61

Other side bets worth considering:

Man City win & Under 2.5 goals @ 4.33

Correct score: Man City 2-0 @ 9.00