Manchester City vs Newcastle United 09/07/20

09 July 2020

Manchester City welcome Newcastle United to the Etihad Stadium, looking to bring a two-game winless run in the Premier League H2Hs to a halt (D1, L1).

The hosts have won three of five Premier League encounters since the resumption of football, losing the other two, which now means that none of their last ten league matches has ended in a draw (W6, L4). Notably, nine of those ten results (win/loss) saw the winner on the day keep a clean sheet, with six featuring under 2.5 goals. The Sky Blues boast an intimidating top-flight home record this calendar year (W5, D1). In fact, their last four Premier League home triumphs have been accompanied by a clean sheet and produced a full-time margin of over 1.5 goals. Another clear cut victory seems very likely, given that Manchester City outplayed Newcastle in ten consecutive top-flight home H2Hs, with six of their last seven such wins yielding at least a two-goal margin.

On the other hand, the visitors have racked up six Premier League games without a loss ahead of this trip (W3, D3), with the last three all witnessing both teams on the scoresheet. But, the Magpies have endured mixed fortunes in their past four league road trips (W2, L2), with three of those results seeing the winner on the day shut out the losing side. The ‘clean-sheet’ theme remains quite significant, as 64.29% (nine) of Newcastle’s 14 Premier League away results this campaign saw the loser on the day draw a blank. Additionally, Newcastle’s inability to fight their way back into the game after shipping the opener has seen them lose seven of nine league away matches in which they’ve conceded the opening goal (D1).