***newcastle v city official match thread***

[Nigels Tackle]

tough game coming up this lunchtime at the sports direct arena

3 changes from wednesday's starting xi for me..

joe for pants
kola for clichy
franz for garfuckingcia

i predict a load of goals...

2-4 city with neggers bagging a rare away brace

come on city!

[sheblue]

We like to concede away so 1-3

[Beefymcfc]

Match facts courtesy of the Beeb:

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head

•Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League matches against Newcastle, winning the last eight.

•Newcastle have not beaten City since September 2005. Michael Owen gave Graeme Souness's Magpies a 1-0 win over Stuart Pearce's City.

•Thirty-eight goals have been scored in the last 11 league matches - almost 3.5 goal per game on average.

•Manchester City needed extra-time goals from Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko to win 2-0 at Newcastle in a League Cup last-16 tie earlier this season.

Newcastle United

•Newcastle are on a three-match losing streak, including last weekend's FA Cup defeat by Cardiff.

•The Magpies are without a Premier League goal in 190 minutes since Papiss Cisse's 80th-minute penalty in the 5-1 Boxing Day win over Stoke.

•Alan Pardew's side have 33 points; they are 13 points better off than after 20 games of last season and level on points with their tally at the same point of the 2011-12 campaign when they went on to finish fifth.

•Loic Remy (23) is the only player to be caught offside more than 20 times this campaign.

Manchester City

•Manchester City are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League matches, winning eight of them.

•They took four points from their opening six away matches but have since earned 10 points from a possible 12 (W3, D1).

•City have only failed to score twice this season: 0-0 at Stoke and their 1-0 loss at Sunderland on Wearside.

•Yaya Toure has scored five league goals in his last four against Newcastle, more than against any other Premier League club.

[Cit.revenge]

Please City three points today i have feeling that if we win today in next month we going to drop followers by 5 to 7 points.

[Benjay]

Tough game today. But it was tougher when we went there in the penultimate game of the league winning season when Cisse was on fire. I still am not totally comfortable with our away form but I will be if we win today. This could be a watershed moment of our season.

[clawbaggio]

We failed to score twice v Palace as well.
Although we have a fantastic record v Toon in recent years, we are playing some great football, and they've lost the last 3, the butterflies have started.
Come on City. Dont let us down. A performance like the opening day will do.

[Beefymcfc]

My only trepidation is with the referee, Mike Jones. You just don't know what he's going to do.

[Tokyo Blue]

My only trepidation is with the referee, Mike Jones. You just don't know what he's going to do.

Indeed. He is something of an oddball.

Newcastle are a good side and we need to play to our best. They are at least not the kind of team that will try to kick shit out of us, so it will be a decent game of football. Come on, City.

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

I think this will be a close game. Big day for the team and any kind of win will have all our rivals shifting uneasily in their seats. 1-2.

[clippo22]

Having Cabaye back will be a big boost for Newcastle, however we should still be strong enough in the middle to control the game, let's hope Negredo and City have finally cracked this playing away lark!

[dikdok]

Please no Garcia. Not sure about Nasri in away games. Maybe Milner?

[City64]

If we keep the same vein of form we will be ok , the players and management seem sublimely focused of late ! We will however very likely conceded at least one goal ........ how many we actually score is completely up to us ;)

[zuricity]

My only trepidation is with the referee, Mike Jones. You just don't know what he's going to do.

Beefy if we play football as we all know we can , it's difficult for any ref to penalise us. I 'm sure they are looking for ways though.

[Beefymcfc]

My only trepidation is with the referee, Mike Jones. You just don't know what he's going to do.

Beefy if we play football as we all know we can , it's difficult for any ref to penalise us. I 'm sure they are looking for ways though.

Of course you are right mate and that's why I say this is my only worry. A few seasons ago we seemed to do very well under him, especially the title winning season but since then we seemed to have struggled with him in-charge. He seems to have a knack of breaking up our play whilst letting the other team through.

I'm not saying he's against us in anyway, just that you never know how he's going to react to any given incident. He's from Chester as well, that can't help ;-)

[Herb]

My confidence in our ability to play our system away from home increases as our results improve and I see today as a tough test but one that we are well set to manage competently - there will be changes from mid-week and the Sunday game has also given tired legs an extra days rest so no excuses.
The only way we won't win this is if the officials fuck up badly or a number of freak football happenings occur concurrently.

Newcastle will be on us like a rash from the off but will tire as the game progresses - 1-1 at half time in a hard fought game and 1-4 to us at full time is my guess - come on you Blues!

[Green & Blue]

Team News

Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (C), Demichelis, Kolarov, Nasri, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Silva, Negredo, Dzeko

City subs: Pantilimon, Richards, Lescott, Clichy, Garcia, Milner, Navas

[Slim]

With the exception of Demi, that's the team I'd choose.

[branny]

I remember our last defeat. I was on holiday in Malia and had got back from a day trip just in time for ko. I was struggling to find somewhere to watch it and as I walked past a restaurant one of the staff clocks my City shirt and tells me it's being shown in the bar next door which had been set up like a cinema with a bar at the front. I'd come out of bright sunlight into dark but as my eyes adjusted all I could see was black and white stripes. Full of barcodes and not a blue in sight. Stitched up big time.

[bigblue]

Arguably our strongest lineup minus Sergio.

Come on City! !!!

[Sideshow Bob]

Looks like we're sticking with Dzeko-negredo, for better or worse.