Monday Night Football-Newcastle v Man City
If this game had been played three or four weeks ago then there would be no doubt we’d be strongly tipping Mark Hughes’ men to get a comfortable win. But Newcastle showed some fighting spirit ( for the first time this season) in their last game before the International break, when they came from two down against Everton to get a point.
That result doesn’t mean that Newcastle are suddenly a great team and are going to start stringing together a serious of wins. It did show their determination however and if they can show that same resolve tonight against a stuttering Manchester City team the crowd could get behind them and they could have a chance of taking something from the game.
While Newcastle were getting a draw at Everton, Manchester City were throwing away a 2-0 half-time lead against Liverpool eventually losing the game 3-2. That was their second consecutive defeat after they had lost to Wigan previously and it looks like that old inconsistent tag has come back to haunt City especially as they had hammered Portsmouth 6-0 the week before their loss to Wigan.
With Man City out of sorts they look short enough at 13/10 (Partybets) to get the win. Newcastle are 2/1 (Skybet) and with home advantage could prove to be value, but there are negatives about them –and not only how they have played so far his season.
Newcastle have lost their last two home matches in fixtures against City, have only won one of the last five times when they have played City and only managed two goals in those six games. Those stats don’t make great reading if you’re a Newcastle supporter.
So while there may be some renewed hope in the Geordie faithful ranks following their display against Everton, it’s still going to be a tough match for them. It could all come down to who scores first and with Michael Owen once again missing from the Newcastle ranks, it’s difficult to see where the Newcastle goals are going to come from.
The draw 23/10 (Ladbrokes) has to be worth considering in this game, especially with both teams not in the best of form. The most likely draw correct score for us would probably be the 0-0 25/2 (Betfair).
We’re not going to go for the draw however. We think Manchester City are far more likely to find the net than Newcastle and if Newcastle go a goal down, they could find an equaliser hard to come by.
We’re tipping Manchester City to win and are going for the correct score of 1-0 15/2 (Paddypower). The player we think can get the goal for City is Elano at a very generous 12/1 (Coral). We’re also going to have a bet on City to keep a clean sheet 12/5 (Paddypower).