Last weekend, Man City and Liverpool played out one of the best games of the season, not only in the Premier League but probably in the whole of Europe but unfortunately, the Cityzens managed to pick up only a single point.
That 1-1 draw has pushed Man City down from the top of the EPL table but Pep will, for the time being, have to shift his focus to the FA Cup where his side take on Newcastle United this weekend.
Man City are still en route to defending their treble and with the kind Newcastle United are in right now, the defending champions are very much the favourites to progress to the semi-final. Manchester City are undefeated in their previous 21 matches while NUFC have won just two out of their previous five matches and they go into this quarter-final at the back of a 2-3 loss to Chelsea in the Premier League.
Newcastle’s league game has more or less gone down the drain so they will probably throw the kitchen sink at Man City this weekend, in the hopes to bag a silverware by the end of May.
Manchester City’s team news and injuries:
Ederson picked up an injury during the Liverpool game so he is going to miss out this weekend and the keeper is most likely to be out of action for four weeks which is a major blow for Pep Guardiola.
Ortega replaced the Brazilian at Anfield and the backup keeper will move up the pecking order when the Magpies come to the Etihad Stadium.
Apart from Ederson, Kevin de Bruyne is also going to miss out after the midfielder was left out of the Belgium squad with a minor groin injury.
De Bruyne’s absence might not affect Manchester City’s quality against Newcastle United but Pep will have to alter his formation, reverting to a 4-2-3-1 system where Julian Alvarez plays in the No 10 role.
Jack Grealish is the other player who is going to miss out but Jeremy Doku is available and he is going to start on the left wing.
John Stones and Rodri played in the CDM roles during the Liverpool game but for this weekend, Mateo Kovacic will return to midfield for Man City with Stones possibly moving back into the defensive line.
Phil Foden did not have the best of outings against Liverpool but the 23-year-old has been otherwise brilliant this season so he is going to hold onto his place.
Man City predicted line up vs Newcastle United:
Predicted Starting XI(4-2-3-1): Ortega; Walker, Stones, Ruben Dias, Ake; Kovacic, Rodri; Doku, Alvarez, Phil Foden; Haaland.
