Newcastle United v Man City - Joe Buck preview
Newcastle United latest news: Pep Guardiola has ruled-out two key players for his side’s clash against Newcastle United.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he will be without two key players for his side’s clash against Newcastle United on Saturday (5:30pm kick-off).
Guardiola’s side head to St James’ Park having won four matches in a row in all competitions. The latest of those victories was a comfortable 3-0 win over reigning champions Liverpool in the final Premier League game before the international break.
Those three points moved Manchester City into second place in the Premier League table and whilst they cannot leapfrog Arsenal to the summit this weekend, they know that a victory on Tyneside would close the gap to the current leaders to just a point before the north London derby on Sunday.
However, City will head to the north east without the services of both Mateo Kovacic and Rodri. Kovacic has been ruled-out of action with an ankle injury, whilst Rodri is sidelined with a thigh injury, one that was serious enough to keep him out of action with Spain during the most recent international break.
Speaking about the current injury situation at the club, Guardiola said: “Everybody is fit except Kova and Rodri.
“Rodri is making good steps. He knows we have to take real time to recover mentally and physically and to be consistent from now until the end.”
Pep Guardiola on ‘important’ Newcastle United match
Despite it being only November and the season not even a third of the way complete, Arsenal’s very good start to the season means that City cannot afford to drop too many points as they look to hunt down the Gunners. Guardiola’s side will begin Saturday’s match at St James’ Park trailing Arsenal by four points - and the Spaniard has admitted that he needs his side to be at their best to record an ‘important’ win not just for now, but also in the wider context of their season.
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"The truth is the team as strong as Arsenal in the last seasons, the feeling I had is they will not drop many points and if they get a lot of distance it will be difficult.
“We are in November, and in November in this league nothing is final. What happens in February or March, be careful.
“Now international break is done we will see each other every few days till March, now the real season starts now. We have to be there in March. Winning tomorrow would be an important step for us."
Manchester City enjoy a very good recent record at St James’ Park and haven’t been beaten in the Premier League in the north east since 2019. Guardiola, meanwhile, also enjoys a pretty faultless record against Eddie Howe during their respective meetings and has never been on the losing side of a Premier League meeting with a team managed by Howe.
In fact, the only time that Howe has got the better of his opposite number came back in 2023 when the Magpies knocked Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup. A solitary goal from Alexander Isak, in a game where both managers rotated their teams amid a packed fixture schedule, was enough for victory on that day.
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