This fixture comes at a surprisingly good point for Newcastle United - a couple of days after their impressive victory over Spurs at White Hart Lane, and more than a week after their first victory of the season against Leicester City. Looking at the fixture list, this three game run, concluding with Liverpool at the weekend could have been written off entirely, but with City's disappointing loss to West Ham last week and the Manchester derby coming up, it might not be the write-off it might have seemed. Alan Pardew needs to get his side playing confidently - as they did in the second half against Spurs - and hope that Vincent Kompany isn't selected with the key game coming at the weekend. If Mangala and Demichelis play instead, Newcastle should find more space and more time on the ball to run at the City defence, which is likely to be key. City will need to concentrate on Newcastle's speed in wide areas, as well as taking note of the unknown quantity that is Ayoze Perez if as expected he gets the nod to stand in for Papiss Cisse. It will be a tough ask for Newcastle - especially with the club apparently not keen on cup success - but it's not impossible to beat Man City, as Stoke and West Ham have already proved this season. Clearly, they will be keen to arrest the trend of losing 2-0, and indeed score their first win since the 2001/02 season.
