Manchester City are looking to remain on top of the Premier League on Sunday, when they travel to St James' Park where they will face a struggling Newcastle United.
The Magpies are three points away from safety but both Burnley and Watford have at least one game in hand on them, and Newcastle have not beaten Man City in their last five meetings.
Match preview
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Eddie Howe's side have not been able to build on their first win of the season which they earned against Burnley at the beginning of this month, and fell to their ninth defeat on Thursday evening.
Newcastle travelled to Anfield in midweek, when Jonjo Shelvey gave the visitors a perfect start in Merseyside, only for Liverpool to hit back through Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the game finishing in a 3-1 defeat for the Magpies.
Not one team has managed to beat Liverpool at Anfield this season, so the result did not come as a surprise, but the tough games keep coming for Howe's side with Manchester United up next after this encounter with the league leaders.
Newcastle need to improve defensively if they are to climb out of the relegation zone, having conceded 37 goals in 17 matches, the worst record in the division, only keeping one clean sheet all season.
Howe's side have averaged the lowest percentage of possession across all Premier League games this season, suggesting that the home side are going to need to endure long periods of pressure from their visitors and attack on the counter.
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Manchester City are likely to be excited for this match looking at Newcastle's defensive stats, having just thrashed Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola's side's goals came from all over the pitch with six different goalscorers in midweek, as Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, John Stones, Nathan Ake and a brace from Kevin De Bruyne sank Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds.
That was Man City's seventh consecutive win in the Premier League and the second clean sheet in a row, remaining with the best defence in the division having only conceded nine goals.
The league leaders' goal difference is not quite as good as second-placed Liverpool, who have netted eight more times than City, and with only one point between them at the moment, Guardiola will want his side to improve that vastly this weekend.
A seven-goal thriller was played out between these two teams in May when they last met at St James' Park, with Ferran Torres the hat-trick hero for Man City, who came out on the right side of the 4-3 scoreline.
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Team News
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Newcastle full-back Jamal Lewis was forced off after just 15 minutes against Liverpool and he will be sidelined until January with a hamstring injury. Matt Ritchie is likely to fill in at left-back in Lewis's absence on Sunday.
Allan Saint-Maximin also limped off at Anfield and the quick turnaround in fixtures makes him a serious doubt for Sunday's game, although Howe is hopeful that the attacker has not suffered a major setback.
Centre-back Federico Fernandez is not expected to return from a knock that he sustained earlier this month, while Paul Dummett is back in training but not fit enough for this weekend's clash.
Isaac Hayden returned to the starting lineup on Thursday and he is expected to remain in midfield alongside Shelvey, with Ryan Fraser and Jacob Murphy providing the width for the home side.
Bernardo Silva is a doubt for Man City after being substituted off at half time against Leeds as a precaution, and Guardiola may rest the Portuguese international having played every minute of every game since the beginning of November before Tuesday evening's outing.
Torres will be absent from the visitors' squad as he continues his recovery from a foot injury, having not played for Man City since September.
Joao Cancelo could return to the side after suspension along with Raheem Sterling, who could lead the line for Man City looking to add to his four-goal tally in the Premier League this season.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Manquillo, Lascelles, Schar, Ritchie; Fraser, Hayden, Shelvey, Murphy; Wilson, Joelinton
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Sterling, Grealish
We say: Newcastle United 0-3 Manchester City
Man City are strong favourites for this one and after putting seven past Leeds, the visitors are expected to be free flowing in front of goal again on Sunday.
Newcastle are in a tough period with games against the top two and teams around the top four, but they have not managed to show much in their last few games which suggests that they can take anything from this clash.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester City win with a probability of 71.03%. A draw had a probability of 17.1% and a win for Newcastle United had a probability of 11.88%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester City win was 0-2 with a probability of 10.98%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.54%) and 0-1 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8%), while for a Newcastle United win it was 2-1 (3.48%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Manchester City would win this match.
