**Well, this is embarrassing ... Newcastle United take on Manchester City on Saturday at 5:30 pm live on Sky Sports from St James' Park, and not the Etihad as I've been thinking for the past week. Oops.**
Not sure how I got myself so mixed up, but the fact that Newcastle are at home does change the outlook of this game quite a bit, with Newcastle's home form far better than their away form this season, particularly in the Premier League.
I thought Paul Merson was having a stroke when he was talking about Newcastle's home form when predicting the score for the upcoming game, but it was me getting it wrong all along. Given how people love to be right on the internet, I'm amazed I haven't received dog's abuse for my faux pas.
Paul Merson has taken into account Newcastle's home form when predicting the score on Saturday for [Sportskeeda](https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/news-paul-merson-predicts-arsenal-vs-tottenham-hotspur-premier-league-gw12-fixtures).
Paul Merson is expecting Newcastle to give Man City a tough time
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Merson has struggled to separate the two sides, but is looking forward to watching Erling Haaland and Nick Woltemade on the pitch at the same time.
> "If Manchester City win this game, I will be thinking that should they keep all their main players fit, they can challenge Arsenal. Newcastle have not been at their best on home turf so far this season, but it is still one of the toughest fixtures in the league. If Eddie Howe's team can play like they did against Liverpool, they have a chance at winning this game!"Erling Haaland has been scoring goals for fun. But will that help him win the Ballon d'Or? The answer is no. No matter how many goals you score, it always comes down to your performance in the Champions League and City must win that trophy to give Haaland a strong chance to win the award."Nick Woltemade has also impressed me so far. I always wonder when players come to the Premier League, 'if they were so good, why didn't Bayern Munich want them?'. That is not the case with Woltemade, he's showing why Bayern really wanted him to be their number nine. Woltemade reminds me of Peter Crouch. He is not just a target man, he can play with the ball and likes it being fed into his feet. Woltemade will cause problems to other teams every single week. If Newcastle's midfield three can fire like last season, it will be perfect for him."Newcastle away is a tricky fixture right after the international break and that's why I think City will drop points in this one.
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> "Prediction: Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester City"
Newcastle could nick a win on Saturday
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I was already prepared to be ecstatic with a draw on Saturday when I thought we were on the road, and so I would still take a draw at St James' Park, although I'm probably now leaning a bit more towards picking up a win.
It's crazy how much a shift in venue (in my mind) can colour the complexion of the game, but at home, I feel Newcastle can beat anyone. We played really well against Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona in the three games we've lost at home this season, and there's no reason we can't put in the same level of performance against City and come away with three points.
That being said though, I'll leave the predictions to the pundits, I'm not sticking my neck out again.