It’s a top of the table clash when Manchester City welcome in Newcastle United. I know that sounds weird to say after only one week, but here we are. Only seven teams won their season opener. Of those seven, only three had a goal differential of +3 or better.
These are two of those teams, with second place Brighton sandwiched in between. In other words, this right here is the headliner fixture of the Premier League’s second weekend.
Manchester City vs Newcastle United FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Aug 19, 8pm, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UKย
Man City Preview Material:ย Team Newsย ย ย Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Google Result Probability:ย Manchester City 57%ย Newcastle 20% ย Draw 23%
PL Form, Position: Newcastleย ย W, 3 pts, 1stย ย Manchester Cityย W, 3pts, 3rd
Team News for Both Sides
The big news with City this week was just the making official what we already suspected- midfield maestro Kevin de Bruyne is going to be out of commission for a long time. We weren’t sure if the re-aggravation of the hamstring injury he suffered at the very end of last season was going to keep him out “weeks” or “months.”
Now we know for sure that it is indeed months. Here is a link to much more on that.
Elsewhere Bernardo Silva is expected back, having reportedly recovered from an unspecified illness. Switching over to Newcastle, they have three injury absentees.
Switching over to the Geordies, they have a trio of players, Emil Krafth (knee), Joe Willock (hamstring) and Javier Manquillo (groin) who will remain on the sidelines for this one.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
Heโs written for numerous publications, including theย New York Daily News,ย Sports Illustratedย and theย Chicago Tribune.ย He regularly appears onย NTD Newsย andย WGN News Now.ย Follow the websiteย onย Twitterย andย Instagram.
