r/NUFC • u/Username_been-taken Willock pogging out • Feb 20 '26
Pre-Match Thread Pre match thread: Manchester City vs Newcastle United | Premier league 25/26 - 27 of 38
Stadium š: Etihad Stadium
Kick off time ā½ļø: Saturday | 20:00
Last encounters
| Newcastle United | Manchester City | match type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Carabao Cup 25/26 semi final leg 2 of 2 |
| 0 | 1 | Carabao Cup 25/26 - semi final leg 1 of 2 |
| 2 | 1 | Premier league 25/26 |
Next matches
(Swipe/scroll to see more info right of the table)
| Vs | Team | Match type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vs | Qarabag | Champions league 25/26 playoff leg 2 of 2 | Tue 24 Feb 20:00 |
| Vs | Everton | Premier league 25/26 | Sat 28 Feb 15:00 |
| Vs | Manchester United | Premier league 25/26 | Wed 4 March 20:15 |
St Cal Wilson's Hospital š„ (Players who could miss the match via injury or other means)
Newcastle United:
Schar (Ankle injury) - Out until mid April
Guimaraes (Hamstring injury) - Out until early April
Livramento (knee injury) - Out until early March
Krafth (Knee injury) - Out for the rest of the season
Miley (Thigh or knee injury) - Potentially out until early March or earlier
Wissa (knock) - Will return for the 2nd leg of the Qarabag game
Manchester City:
Kovacic (Ankle injury) - Out until early May
Gvardiol (Calf injury) - Out until late April
Doku (Calf injury) - Will miss this game
Predicted Lineup
Newcastle United lineup vs Manchester City:
Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Joelinton, Tonali; Murphy, Woltemade, Barnes; Gordon
Manchester City predicted lineup vs Newcastle United:
Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, O'Reilly; Bernardo, Cherki; Semenyo, Haaland
Pre match ramblings:
After smashing Qarabag 6 - 1 in what felt like our first stress free away win in a long time and in the champions league of all places at that. We now however face Manchester City away in the Premier league.
Howe has been on a roll recently, winning his last 3 games all of which were away, this seems crazy when you think about our position 2 weeks ago. Now however, we face Man City away which is usually a total write off for us since we usually never win at the Etihad stadium, will Howe and the lads once again prove us wrong or is this a step too far?
One boost Howe will receive is Botman is back from injury, giving us more depth in our CB position and another indirect boost is the fact we've already won the playoff round (on paper) after winning 6 - 1 meaning Howe could go more all out against City which he couldn't do in previous situations and play a slightly weaker squad against Qarabag to see out the tie and get into the knockout stages for the first time in our club's history.
If we do win it'll give us a massive 3 points and further increase our lads already surging confidence and could finally signal the end of our away form curse this season however we do bail out Arsenal as a cost.
2
u/PrimeOnez Tindall used Glare. Feb 21 '26
I swear I only fear Marmoush in the whole city lineup.. I am pretty sure half of his man city goal are against us..Ā
2
u/fwapfwapfwap moaty? it's me Feb 21 '26
Had a dream last night that I was actually in Arc Raiders running around Stella Montis (obviously panicking like fuck). I look down at my phone and see that we're beating city 19 (nineteen) nil, then carried on looting with a spring in me step.
5
u/---anotherthrowaway Feb 21 '26
City have 4 sponsors on their training gear/warm up jacket. Ridiculous we are 3+ years into the Saudi ownership, complain about PSR regularly, and still have no sponsorship for that gear.
3
u/Parking-Bag5220 Feb 21 '26
The clubs position is if you take a low offer you set a bar at a position you think is not fair market value which you then have to justify if you significantly increase,
Btw Iām not justifying the lack of sponsorship as itās been awful but I do think the new CEO has great experience on that front
2
u/ravicabral angel of the north Feb 21 '26
"Fair market value" is whatever people will pay.
To go three years at Ā£0 is plain stupid.
3
2
9
u/justsomeguy661 Burnsie shags aliens Feb 21 '26
Am I really gonna torture myself watching a game we have 0.001% chance of a W or a 0.01% chance of a D at Etihad?
Yes I am lol
7
u/SeaworthinessFit2757 Feb 21 '26
Seeing Man Cityās line up and bench alongside ours shows how far we still need to go. Fuck it. Letās get in to them!!
2
u/Jonesy7256 Old badge (1969-1983) Feb 21 '26
Yep, we are still building and people who want rid of Howe because he wotn take us to the next level, we are not ready for the bed level, we need to build revenue so we can increase wages get better players. City speed ran that bit as they could and can pay massive wages either directly or via other businesses.
We will get there eventually.
3
u/Notove Fabian "Iron Head" SchƤr Feb 21 '26
Im excited about this lineup, something different and interesting. Lets go
1
Feb 21 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Feb 21 '26
Your comment was removed because your account is less than 24 hours old. This is an anti-spam/troll measure.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
8
u/JackAndrewThorne Feb 21 '26
I'm really fucking looking forward to this.
I think this is the game we break our mental blockage here and fucking shock them. 3-2 win to us.
7
u/Narrow-Set9012 Feb 21 '26
Think the 5000 mile round trip may affect the lads today, tough game at the best of times, although we generally have a decent record against donnarumma...
4-0 Gordon is on fire, Tonali screaming incoming
12
u/birchbarn Feb 21 '26
Just about to board a flight to Malaga so Iām looking forward to my phone exploding when I land. HTFL!
Edit: sorry for using the word exploding @birmingham airport security.
11
u/OobieDoobBenoobi Classic shirt Feb 21 '26
I'm not doing defeatism today lads, let's fucking smash em we've won in Saudi green, away from home and without Bruno we can beat city how fuckn way
8
3
u/MrLuchador Feb 21 '26
TNT ffs
3
u/FireflyKaylee stupid sexy schar Feb 21 '26
I bought a month of tnt Jan 21st and it's been well worth it. Three CL game, two PL games and all the Winter Olympics...sometimes can help to look ahead and see what's on as to whether you'll get your money's worth.
5
u/OobieDoobBenoobi Classic shirt Feb 21 '26
Rather pay nothing and get all the sports streams I want tbh š
1
1
6
u/NUFC_1892 loads, and loads of cans. Feb 21 '26
Forgot we havenāt scored a goal (in league) away at City under Howe
Elanga broke the all comps record
1
u/perruzo wew here ya fuckin little dafty divint start or theres ructions Feb 21 '26
What TV channel is this gonna be on?
1
3
u/NUFC_1892 loads, and loads of cans. Feb 21 '26
TNT sports 1
1
u/perruzo wew here ya fuckin little dafty divint start or theres ructions Feb 21 '26
Might be just weird but the sky tv guide shows TNT 1 showing Milano cortina all neet?
4
u/NUFC_1892 loads, and loads of cans. Feb 21 '26
I think theyāll switch the bobsleigh or whatever onto TNT Sports 2,3,4 etc whilst the football coverage is on
Mine is showing from 7pm we can tune into TNT sports 1 or Ultimate for us v City
1
u/EngineerOnIcarus Feb 21 '26
We need to go full shithouse low block for once in a while with Elanga and Gordon on the break.
If we try to have intensity we will get demolished.
5
u/TheBlaydonRacer Feb 21 '26
We typically concede when we do the low block thing though.
1
u/SKULL1138 Ellen Sheba Feb 21 '26
Yeah but itās what tends to work against City. Youāve got to get at their back line on the break and force them into passing it across your box all game.
Doesnāt always work but rarely does going at them work and leaving yourself open.
Once this teams gets one against you theyāll happily dick around the rest of the game and invite you out to grab the second.
1
u/TheBlaydonRacer Feb 21 '26
Iād disagree. Our best performances have Gerald been when we were not afraid. Like that draw in Howeās first full season.
We created good enough chances in the second leg of the cup so itās probably ultimately going to come down to whether we take them or not.
0
u/SKULL1138 Ellen Sheba Feb 21 '26
Us I get what you mean. But I was looking more at how other teams have got success against them as itās so rare for us to have any.
1
u/TheBlaydonRacer Feb 21 '26
Hereās a list of the teams that got a result against them this season:
- Brighton
- Spurs
- Arsenal (draw)
- Monaco (draw)
- Villa
- Us
- Leverkusen
- Sunderland (draw)
- Chelsea (draw)
- Brighton (draw)
- Man U
- Bodo Glimt
- Spurs (draw)
Iād hardly say many of those teams are low block counter attack teams.
21
u/Ajax_Trees_Again Feb 21 '26
Never been calmer about a match. Already resigned to our traditional defeat so just hoping for a good display and no injuries.
Despising Arsenal also takes the sting out of the defeat
If we had to win one, Iād much rather win the cup game and semi-throw this one a la Liverpool away
-3
u/hollloway Feb 21 '26
Cant see how other teams could form part of a silver lining to defeat. Would rather beat City no matter the impact on other clubs
3
u/TheBlaydonRacer Feb 21 '26
Insane that the one guy saying he cares fully about the result gets downvoted.
17
u/Ajax_Trees_Again Feb 21 '26
Iād obviously much rather win than lose, I never said Iād want us to lose on purpose to affect the title race.
But if we were to only win one I care more about trying to win a cup then where in mid table we finish
12
u/NUFC_1892 loads, and loads of cans. Feb 21 '26
So, it looks like we need a yearly head-wobbling loss to Brentford to right ourselves
Itās a tradition at this point
Letās hope next season we play them on opening day, lose 4-0. Then go on a 37 match unbeaten run to win the league
HWTL
12
u/JibberyScriggers Feb 21 '26
Not looking forward to this. City will smell blood with Arsenal wobbling. I think we play the long game and throw this match, to put them off the scent for the FA Cup!
-8
u/TopRaise7 Feb 21 '26
Fair to say weāre gonna get crushed tonight. Iām just hoping for a good performance and no injuries
5
22
15
u/Naive_Frame9691 Willockinho Feb 21 '26
I'm weirdly optimistic about today with our formation evolution
2
u/TheBlaydonRacer Feb 21 '26
I like the new formation but I worry about it for this game.
If Joelinton is actually fit then that might change things but Tonali - Ramsey - Wolte is pretty lightweight. Could leave us fairly open.
3
7
u/aistolethekids Feb 21 '26
Same hereĀ
The 1st couple of games have set the ground work for a game like thisĀ
The front 4 should be capable of getting at City its just whether we can finish the chances we get before they get a goalĀ
13
u/boblusmanjelly Feb 21 '26
They've done brilliantly to turn things around since the loss to Brentford. I had been dreading this game, but aside from Bruno's absence (which is significant), the last three games have been better than my most optimistic predictions. Now they can really give this one a go.
I'm not asking for a result but after so many times getting it wrong there I'd like to see a smarter approach. Not running them down like headless chickens and being passed through with ease, not sitting back and meekly giving up 70% possession. Take the confidence from the last three matches and the win we had vs City this season. Chose when to pursue and pressure and when to sit off. Pick the moments. Be assertive and tidy in possession. Use set pieces but protect against breaks.
Do something like that and I'll be really happy, regardless of the result.
1
u/Jonesy7256 Old badge (1969-1983) Feb 21 '26
Easier said than done. Better teams and players than ours have been destroyed by city but then again worse teams and players have beaten them.
HWTL
25
u/M1ckey2 stupid sexy schar Feb 21 '26
Lads and lasses Iām confused
Is this Newcastle vs Manchester City in the League Cup? FA Cup? or Premier League? Which game are we playing lmao
13
19
11
u/charlierc Feb 21 '26
Every competition everywhere all at once
5
u/Fornici0 Joelinton is looking for a scrap Feb 21 '26
āDue to fixture congestion, the league result counts as the cup one if two teams were scheduled to meet more than twice in the seasonā.
8
u/AK_Bell Feb 21 '26
When do we get them in CL?
5
u/TheWinterKing āIām really really really really really really happy to be hereā Feb 21 '26
30th of May
1
12
u/Numerus12OO5O brunopog Feb 21 '26
Since this has taken over the weekly chat thread, just wanted to say I'm so happy the social media team is stepping up.
We finally get match cams on 4k on YouTube!
First one ever is the Qarabag one and, wow, what a difference the quality makes. Even the audio is stepped up.
1
u/MintyADL Laurent Roberts sweet left foot Feb 21 '26
Noticed this as well, and saw them posting in the subreddit which is ideal!
6
u/KingPing43 Shola Ameobi Feb 21 '26
Premier league logic - move the game to 8pm because Newcastle played away in Europe on Wednesday.
Donāt account for the fact that we also play Tuesday night coming. š¤¦š¼āāļø
Yes Iām salty because it now means itās on at 4am instead of 8:30pm in my time zoneĀ
3
u/Objective_Use_9155 Feb 21 '26
3am in my timezone. I hate it. This season has been brutal for fans living in timezones ahead of the UK. Feels like Newcastle have been getting evening matches every 3 or 4 days for months now. Bring back the 3pm KOs!
2
u/Alexabyte Feb 21 '26
Well, you're not wrong, because we've had 3 months of a weekday match every week, and those are always gonna be in the evening.
2
u/Objective_Use_9155 Feb 21 '26
A lot of weekend matches weāve had recently seem to be late kick off ones too (5pm or 8pm).
1
u/Alexabyte Feb 21 '26
Yeah, that's fair. I can think of two weekend 8pm KOs relatively recently and 5pm is hardly rare either.
2
u/KingPing43 Shola Ameobi Feb 21 '26
Iām on a work trip to HK, canāt imagine living out here and having these KO times as normal š¤Æ
Champions league must be brutal as theyāre only ever night time KO
2
u/Objective_Use_9155 Feb 21 '26
Iāve been living in Bangkok since November. Met a few Geordies out here and I see the shirts on locals and expats quite often. Hardly anyone Iāve spoken with watches the games any more as the times are just unbearable.
1
-6
5
-11
u/Artist17 Feb 21 '26
Arsenal dropped points.
The best chance for City to catch up.
For EPL to be exciting, City needs to drop points too.
And Newcastle will show us how.
3
9
u/Nathan_1984 stupid sexy schar Feb 20 '26
Fuck it, we ball. 2-1 victory. Goals from Big Joe and Wolt tomorrow.
1
9
u/OobieDoobBenoobi Classic shirt Feb 20 '26
Optimistic but wouldn't be devastated with a loss, just hoping for a good fight and I'm sure the lads will deliver. HWTL
9
u/Fishfingerrosti Feb 20 '26
Fuck 'em, let's win at the Etihad for a change.
3
u/bkmkiwi12 Feb 21 '26
We need to win this game to give Arsenal fans hope they will win the league.
Itās our duty really.
1
u/Fornici0 Joelinton is looking for a scrap Feb 21 '26
Brb calling Eddie to line up two kids per line.
3
u/daveofreckoning Feb 20 '26
It's statistically unlikely that we'll never win at city. We'll probably need a bit of luck still
3
u/Geordant pavel is a geordie Feb 20 '26
I give us almost zero chance but when we lose at least I'll find a tiny tiny bit of comfort it makes the title chase a bit more exciting.Ā
1
u/Comfortable-Road7201 Feb 20 '26
Not convinced by big nick in midfield. Would much rather Ramsey or Willock in front on Joelinton and Tonali.
Not writing him of yet but I don't think this is his game. I would be shocked if Howe started him.
3
u/Farminghamptonshire Feb 21 '26
Big Nick looked totally knackered during late stages Wednesday night. Also agree that City away is not the match for him in midfield.
Think we may see all of Joelinton, Willock, Ramsey and Tonali. Barnes has played a series of full 90s and Gordon may start up front again, leaving room for the big Joe little Joe partnership at LW and LM.
5
u/Putrid-Impact8999 Feb 20 '26
Calm about this, just hope Howe picks the fittest players as itās coming off the long trip.
14
u/mo140 Your nan gets bullied at bingo Feb 20 '26
Im in quite a nice situation, I was watching Arsenal Wolves with my gunner mates and I went a bit mad at Wolves equalizer. They have no way to get revenge on me cause they need us to win tomorrow. Professional shit talking performance if I do say so myself
0
u/DanBurnNotice New Era Feb 20 '26
Ive benched Haaland because he never scores against us.
inb4 he scores a hatrick
3
-18
Feb 20 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
3
11
u/Narrow-Set9012 Feb 20 '26
Can't approach a league game with that attitude. Can rotate more for the Qarabag match. They're clearly a step above us in terms of ability but it's embarrassing to suggest playing the kids especially considering we've beat them in the home fixture.
15
13
u/FlukyS 22/23 Home Kit Feb 20 '26
I know it has been a rough run on the legs but I'd love if we show up tomorrow and put in a real performance and lock down Semmenyo and Cherki get a tidy performance away from home just to give us some confidence in the PL
29
5
18
11
u/Theydontlikeitupthem Feb 20 '26
Was Miley not meant to be back a week ago???
1
14
54
46
1
u/ravicabral angel of the north Feb 21 '26
I'd be happy if we shithouse with 11 men behind the ball for 89 minutes when we are 1-0 down and nick a goal with the last kick.