Pep Guardiola believes the best way for Erling Haaland to reach his best at Manchester City is to play as often as possible to form connections with his teammates, so he’s bound to keep his place against Newcastle United. City will be looking to keep their 100 per cent record intact when they travel up north for Sunday’s game after already picking up comfortable victories over West Ham and Bournemouth. With games only coming at a pace of one per week at the moment, Guardiola hasn’t been forced to rotate his side much to keep everybody fit. The reintroduction of five substitutions certainly helps in that regard and, as a result, it may be an unchanged side that takes to the field at St. James’ Park. That would see Haaland continue to lead the line. The striker has had a great start to life at City with two goals and an assist in his two matches, but he isn’t quite firing on all cylinders just yet as the team continues to get used to playing with a focal point again.
The obvious example came eight minutes in against Bournemouth when Haaland was open for a tap-in in the six-yard box but Phil Foden opted to shoot instead, much to the Norwegian’s disbelief. “We are delighted with Erling,” Guardiola said ahead of the game. “The little details still we miss but not just with him, with everything. It’s just a question of time. I don’t have any doubts, it’s just a question of time like all the new players. The connections, the chemistry on the pitch, the right moments, the right tempo with the players. This is a question of games, games and games.” With that in mind, Haaland, Foden and Riyad Mahrez could all remain upfront to continue to build their understanding. Elsewhere, there is no reason to make any changes. Bernardo Silva may be itching to start and Kalvin Phillips is available again but Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan have all been excellent so far. Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias’ places at the back are all secure but Nathan Ake has also done nothing to warrant being dropped to the bench so John Stones will have to continue to wait for his first start. New signing Sergio Gomez will be hoping to make his debut off the bench.
Hoping to continue their perfect start to the Premier League season, Manchester City will make the trip to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United on Sunday. Pep Guardiola’s side have started their title defence with back-to-back league wins, while their hosts are also unbeaten after two outings in England’s top flight. Heading into their first full season under the management of Eddie Howe, Newcastle United set about hoping to improve on last year’s 11th-placed finish, having enjoyed an impressive rise following his appointment in November. After a summer which saw goalkeeper Nick Pope and centre-back Sven Botman arrive from Burnley and Lille respectively, while Matt Targett’s loan was made permanent, the Magpies kicked off their top-flight campaign with a home contest against newly-promoted Nottingham Forest and came away with all three points. The game remained goalless until the hour mark, but Fabian Schar eventually broke the deadlock with an eye-catching effort from distance, before Callum Wilson wrapped up the points with his side’s second goal 12 minutes from time.
The Magpies would then travel to take on Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend and returned home with a point following a goalless draw, largely thanks to Pope’s heroics between the sticks. Howe has plenty to be pleased about, with his side yet to concede in two top-flight outings and having won eight of their last nine home league matches spanning back to February, but both of those records will certainly be put to the test on Sunday as the defending champions arrive looking to make it three wins from three games. After a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield, Pep Guardiola’s side began their bid for a third straight league title and a fifth in the last six seasons with a trip to West Ham United on the opening day. Erling Braut Haaland marked his league debut with a goal from the penalty spot to put them ahead in the 35th minute, and the Norwegian would go on to hit his and the Citizens’ second to ensure they returned home with all three points. They then welcomed newly-promoted AFC Bournemouth to the Etihad Stadium last weekend, and Ilkay Gundugan, who was the hero in their title-securing win over Aston Villa on the final day of last season with a late brace, gave the Citizens the lead after 19 minutes.
Manchester City have made a promising start to their Premier League title defence as they head to Newcastle with two wins from their opening games. If defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield had the Blues fretting about the team being undercooked, the first fortnight of the campaign has emphatically changed the narrative. City can move seven points clear of Jurgen Klopp’s side if they beat Newcastle on Sunday, with Liverpool at Old Trafford the following night. Winning the first three games of the campaign does not seem that extraordinary in a side that has broken a slew of records in English football, yet it is something that Pep Guardiola is not used to. In fact, he has only ever done it once before in the Premier League. Last season of course started with an opening-day defeat to Tottenham, while the 2020/21 campaign saw a 5-2 humbling at home to Leicester City that accelerated a need to buy a defender; Ruben Dias was signed before the next game and City went on to win the league. The previous year featured an(other) agonizing draw with Tottenham in the first home game, with an injury-time winner from Gabriel Jesus controversially ruled out that time.
In 2018, City won their first two matches but were held by Premier League newcomers Wolves at Molineux in their third – ironically, the Wolves goal helped to prompt the rule change that disallowed the Jesus effort against Spurs the following season. And even in their Centurions campaign, the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Everton before needing a late, late Raheem Sterling winner at Bournemouth to avoid dropping points in two of their first three games. Their best start under Guardiola, funnily enough, is their worst finish in a Premier League under the manager. Back in 2016 they beat Sunderland (2-1), Stoke (3-1) and West Ham (4-1) as part of a honeymoon period that had City seen as all-conquering under the new coach before the wheels spectacularly came off. With three wins and a +6 goal difference from that sequence of games, City only need to beat Newcastle on Sunday to make it their best ever start under Guardiola as they already have +6 thanks to wins over West Ham (2-0) and Bournemouth (4-0).
Kevin De Bruyne made it two on the half-hour mark, before Phil Foden capped off a rampant first-half performance with their third of the afternoon six minutes later, and, followng a second-half own goal from Jefferson Lerma, Guardiola’s men came away with a 4-0 victory. Now sitting as one of just two sides with six points from the first two league outings, Manchester City will look to quickly establish a lead at the top of the division with another triumph at the weekend. Newcastle United remain without midfielder Jonjo Shelvey through injury, while Matt Targett, Ryan Fraser and Emil Krafth will have to be assessed prior to the game. Summer signing Sven Botman will again partner Fabian Schar at the heart of a back four, with Dan Burn set to stay at left-back if Targett is not deemed fit to come straight back in. Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton remain key men in midfield alongside Joe Willock, while Callum Wilson should continue to be preferred over Chris Wood up front. Guardiola will again be unable to call on centre-back Aymeric Laporte due to an injury, meaning Nathan Ake should keep his place alongside Ruben Dias unless John Stones is given a chance to start at St James’ Park.
Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan have operated in a three-man midfield in both league games thus far and should continue their partnership behind talismanic midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. The Citizens could continue to rotate their attacking options, with Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva all battling to flank striker Erling Braut Haaland. Newcastle United is going head to head with Manchester City starting on 21 Aug 2022 at 15:30 UTC at St James’ Park stadium, Newcastle upon Tyne city, England. The match is a part of the Premier League. Currently, Newcastle United rank 5th, while Manchester City hold 2nd position. Looking to compare the best-rated player on both teams? rating system assigns each player a specific rating based on numerous data factors. On livescore you can find all previous Newcastle United vs Manchester City results sorted by their H2H matches. also provides the best way to follow the live score of this game with various sports features. Therefore, you can: Get real-time information on which team is dominating the match using the Attack Momentum Follow detailed statistics such as ball possession, shots, corner kicks, big chances created, cards, key passes, duels and more.
Event details:
NAME: Newcastle United – Manchester City
DATE: 21 Aug 2022
TIME: 15:30 UTC
VENUE: St James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
