Manchester City v Newcastle predictions: free betting tips and where to watch

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 8pm Saturday

Best bet

Over 1.5 Manchester City second-half goals
3pts 17-20 Betway

Team news

Manchester City
Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus are having to isolate. Eric Garcia is sidelined. Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling should return after being rested in the EFL Cup tie at Arsenal.

Newcastle
Jamaal Lascelles and Allan Saint-Maximin are recovering from Covid-19 and Federico Fernandez is doubtful after missing the EFL Cup defeat at Brentford.

Match preview

Manchester City failed to land odds of 1-10 against West Brom in their last home Premier League match and they will go off at similarly cramped odds against Newcastle.

City have got that 1-1 draw with the struggling Baggies out of their system with a couple of impressive away victories, beating in-form Southampton 1-0 in the league and thumping Arsenal 4-1 in Tuesday's EFL Cup quarter-final.

While the Citizens took another step towards a sixth League Cup in eight seasons, Newcastle were knocked out of the competition by Championship side Brentford.

A Covid-19 outbreak at Newcastle forced the postponement of the Magpies' league fixture against Aston Villa at the start of December and Steve Bruce must be concerned about how his squad will cope with a busy schedule.

They pinched a gritty 2-1 home win over West Brom in their first game after the Villa postponement but conceded four goals in the final half-hour of their 5-2 defeat at Leeds.

Bruce's men benefited from a disputed penalty in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Fulham but couldn't take full advantage of the Cottagers being reduced to ten men in the 61st minute.

And Newcastle looked a tired side, lacking urgency and creativity, during Tuesday's cup tie at Brentford where they never threatened to come back from Josh Dasilva's 66th-minute strike for the Bees.

The Magpies are unlikely to see much of the ball at the Etihad and City are capable of cutting apart tiring opponents, so backing the hosts to score at least twice in the second half looks a decent bet.

It is swimming against the tide of this season's trend as Pep Guardiola's men have scored only five of their 19 league goals after the break.

However, they put three second-half goals past Arsenal on Tuesday, with Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte following up Gabriel Jesus's third-minute header.

And Newcastle have been vulnerable late on in games, most notably at Leeds and at home to Manchester United when they lost 4-1 having been level at 1-1 until the 86th minute.

City can still turn on the style at home, beating Burnley 5-0 last month, and Guardiola was able to rest Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling in the cup win at Arsenal.

Ominously for Newcastle, Sergio Aguero came off the bench at the Emirates. The Argentina striker has scored 15 times in 11 games against the Magpies and he and his teammates could make it a tough second half for the visitors.

Key stat

Sergio Aguero has scored 15 goals in just 11 appearances against Newcastle.

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