FA Cup holders Manchester City welcome fellow Premier League outfit Newcastle United to the Etihad Stadium for a quarter-final showdown on Saturday evening.
Erling Haaland scored five as the Citizens thrashed Luton Town 6-2 in the fifth round, while the Magpies required penalties to edge past Championship side Blackburn Rovers.
Match preview
© Reuters
It is fair to say that the final Premier League showdown between Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp lived up to the billing, as Man City and Liverpool, two pre-eminent forces in the English game, served up another classic in an absorbing 1-1 draw at Anfield last Sunday.
John Stones put the Citizens into a deserved first-half lead, finishing a clever corner routine by Kevin De Bruyne, but Liverpool roared back in dominant fashion after the interval and quickly restored parity with an Alexis Mac Allister penalty, after Ederson fouled Darwin Nunez just 84 seconds after the restart.
Both teams had chances to claim an important victory, particularly Liverpool, but the spoils were eventually shared and leaves the title race wide open, with new leaders Arsenal and second-placed Liverpool only separated by goal difference at the summit as Man City sit one point further back in third with 10 games left to play.
After seeing his Man City side extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 21 matches, Guardiola remains upbeat heading down the home straight, insisting that his side 'are still there' in the title race, and their hunt to win another treble can be strengthened with FA Cup success this weekend over a Newcastle outfit, whom they have beaten in 15 of their last 16 home meetings.
Since the start of last season, Man City have won each of their last nine FA Cup ties by an aggregate score of 31-3, and the six-time winners are bidding to become the first team in the competition's history to reach a sixth successive semi-final.
© Reuters
Since beating Blackburn in the FA Cup fifth round at the end of February, Newcastle have had mixed success in the Premier League, following up a comfortable 3-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers with a 3-2 defeat at Chelsea on Monday.
A superb strike from Alexander Isak cancelled out an early opener from Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, but second-half goals from Cole Palmer and Mykhaylo Mudryk, aided by sloppy Magpies defending, put the Blues back in control, before Jacob Murphy lashed home a venomous consolation strike on the 90-minute mark.
Eddie Howe's side have now suffered 12 Premier League defeats this season, seven more than they lost in the entirety of the previous campaign, and although Newcastle currently sit 10th in the table, their European hopes remain alive, for now, as they only sit three points behind West Ham United in seventh spot.
Sixty-nine years have passed since Newcastle last won a major piece of silverware, the 1955 FA Cup, while they have not reached the semi-final stage of this competition since the 2004-05 season under former boss Graeme Souness – losing in the quarter-finals twice since then in 2005-06 and 2019-20.
Ending their painful trophy drought this term will be a tall order, as they enter Saturday's contest having only won three of their last 37 meetings with Man City in all tournaments. However, two of those victories were in cup competitions, including a slender 1-0 home victory in the EFL Cup third round earlier this season; Tottenham Hotspur in 1992-93 were the last team to eliminate Man City from both domestic cups in the same season.
Team News
© Reuters
Man City have suffered a fresh injury blow as playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is nursing a groin problem and has subsequently been left out of the Belgium squad ahead of the international break.
Guardiola has confirmed that De Bruyne will miss Saturday's match along with Ederson, who is facing up to four weeks out with a muscle problem sustained when fouling Nunez in last weekend's draw with Liverpool.
However, Jack Grealish, who has missed the last three games with a groin injury, is back in contention after taking part in training this week, and the Englishman is set to compete with Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb – the latter of whom scored a superb last-gasp winner in a 3-2 top-flight win at Newcastle in January – for a place in the first XI.
Stefan Ortega is expected to replace Ederson between the sticks, and there could also be changes made in defence with Ruben Dias, Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol among those pushing for a recall, while Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes are in contention to return in midfield.
As for Newcastle, Howe is hopeful that winger Anthony Gordon, who received his first senior England call-up this week, is fit to feature after coming off against Chelsea with a knee injury; the 23-year-old has also played down the severity of his issue.
Dan Burn was also withdrawn against Chelsea with a knock, but the defender is expected to be available this weekend, although Harvey Barnes - who was left out of the matchday squad last time out - is facing another spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and joins Kieran Trippier (calf), Nick Pope (shoulder), Callum Wilson (pectoral) and Joelinton (thigh) in the treatment room; Sandro Tonali (suspended) and Joe White (cup-tied) are also unavailable for selection.
If Gordon is not deemed 100% ready to start, then Murphy could be handed a start in attack alongside Isak and Miguel Almiron, while Matt Targett, who has recently recovered from a long-term hamstring injury, will battle with Burn for the left-back berth as Valentino Livramento operates at right-back in the absence of Trippier.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Bobb, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Almiron
We say: Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle United
Taking into account Man City's impressive 37-game unbeaten home run, their strong run of form in the FA Cup and their dominant head-to-head record over Newcastle, it is difficult to back against a home victory on Saturday.
The Magpies cannot be written off completely considering that they have already beaten the Citizens in the EFL Cup this term and pushed them all the way in a 1-0 Premier League loss at the Etihad back in August, but Guardiola's men should ultimately find a way to breach a leaky Magpies backline en route to securing their place in the semi-finals.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
