These two sides will surely be getting sick of the sight of each other, as this will be their fourth meeting in 2026, and their fifth this season. Pep Guardiola has had the upper hand recently, as his Man City side have won each of the last three meetings. 

Newcastle find themselves in a rough patch of form, as they have lost five of their last seven league matches, but they were able to secure a 2-1 win against Man United midweek against the odds.

Jacob Ramsey was sent off in the first half, but Newcastle still managed to score twice after that setback. The midfielder will serve his suspension this weekend, while Sandro Tonali could also miss out - he was withdrawn late on due to cramps. 

Newcastle deserve some sympathy for the number of injuries they have had to contend with this season, as Bruno Guimaraes is also expected to miss out this weekend.

Man City’s winning streak came to an end midweek, but they still come into this clash on a ten-game unbeaten run, with eight wins in that stretch. They are looking a tough side to beat at the moment, which doesn’t bode well for Newcastle. 

With that being said, City’s card counts have been noticeably high in recent games, and they have landed this selection in six of their last eight matches. They failed to hit this mark against Salford in the previous round of the FA Cup, but there was a significant gulf in quality between the two sides. 

This selection has landed in all four head-to-head meetings between these sides this season, and there were seven yellows shown across their two EFL Cup meetings. That includes City picking up four yellow cards at St James’ Park. When these sides met on Tyneside in the league, City were shown three yellows.

Newcastle were also shown four yellow cards in that EFL Cup first leg at home, and Sam Barrott could be kept equally as busy this weekend. He has dished out 61 yellows and one red card from his 17 Premier League appearances this season

The referee will also have to keep his eye on Joelinton here, as the Brazilian doesn’t seem to like playing against Man City very much. In fact, he has been carded in each of his last four straight matches against Guardiola’s men - keeping that streak alive in the last head-to-head meeting despite only featuring from the bench. 

After coming on in the 60th minute, Joelinton racked up four fouls before eventually being booked in the 89th minute. He was shown a yellow card when these sides last met on Tyneside for getting into a scrap with Nico O’Reilly in the first half, but still managed to land this selection with exactly two infringements.

Joelinton is averaging 2.03 fouls per 90 across all competitions this season, one of the highest totals in the Newcastle squad, and he tends to take things up a gear at home, especially when playing against a big team. 

Joelinton should find duels against Bernardo Silva in midfield here, who also seems to have some bad blood with Newcastle. The Portuguese international has accrued five fouls in his last two meetings against Eddie Howe's side and was carded in both. In fact, he has committed a foul in five of his last six matches against Newcastle, picking up three yellow cards in that time, too. 

Silva is averaging 1.39 fouls per 90 for City this season, and has landed this selection in seven of his last ten matches. He likes to be aggressive in midfield, and should have plenty of defensive work to get through at St James’ Park here.

Newcastle are one of the strongest sides in the Premier League when it comes to winning corners, particularly when they play at St James’ Park. Eddie Howe’s side have utilised this avenue often since Howe arrived at the club with the delivery of Kieran Trippier lining up well with the aerial threats of Burn and Thiaw.

Newcastle are averaging 6.69 corners per game in the Premier League this season, which is the highest tally of any side in the division. This rises even further to 7.07 corners per game when playing at St James’ Park, showing how key an aspect it is to Newcastle’s overall game plan. Newcastle racked up five corners when Manchester City visited St James’ Park earlier in the season.

Manchester City are conceding 4.43 corners per game on the road in the Premier League this season, and I can see Guardiola choosing this game as an opportunity to rotate his side given that City have to play Real Madrid in the Champions League during the week having just dropped points in the title race at home to Nottingham Forest. City have conceded 4+ corners to Newcastle in each of the four head to head meetings between the sides this season. 

These two sides have already met four times this season, with three or more goals scored in three of those meetings. The most recent clash finished 2-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad, a game that produced exactly three goals and a total of 28 shots, half of which were on target.

Newcastle have seen three or more goals in each of their last five matches across all competitions, most recently claiming a 2-1 win over Manchester United at St James’ Park - despite playing the entire second half with ten men.

Across 15 home league games this season, Newcastle have been involved in 52 goals, averaging 3.46 per game. They're also expected to take this competition seriously, given it's one of the few trophies still within reach this term.

Manchester City may not share that same intensity. After dropping crucial points in the title race midweek and with a Champions League last-16 first leg against Real Madrid on the horizon, their focus could be elsewhere. Still, three of their last five matches across all competitions have also featured three or more goals.

I expect this to be a very lively cup tie, and one that Wrexham will be able to be competitive in given where this tie falls in Chelsea’s current calendar. Chelsea travelled to Villa Park during the week, and will make the trip to Paris for their Champions League clash against PSG after this game so we can expect quite a bit of rotation from Liam Rosenior.

Wrexham have already taken on Premier League opposition in the FA Cup this season in the form of Nottingham Forest. Wrexham managed to score three goals in that clash, and also scored against Ipswich in the last round of the cup to set up this intriguing clash. 

Wrexham have scored 33 goals across their 18 home matches in the Championship this term (1.83 per game), with this tally accounting for 61% of the total goals that Wrexham have scored in the Championship this season. I think they’ll go fairly strong here, it’s a massive game for the club and one that should see Phil Parkinson put out a complete side. 

Chelsea have been impressive at times under Rosenior, but keeping clean sheets has not been one of their strengths. Rosenior is still trying to find a way for Chelsea to find control in games, which has led to the Blues only keeping three clean sheets across their 14 matches under his management.

It is obvious to most people that Chelsea have an issue when it comes to discipline, especially in matches where there is likely to be a lively atmosphere. The youthful nature of the squad makes them quick to jump into challenges, and lack restraint when complaining to the referee.

The FA Cup can sometimes be a dampener for cards, but Chelsea’s petulance should still be able to rise to the fore here. The Blues picked up two yellow cards in their 4-0 win over Hull in the last round of the FA Cup, showing how Chelsea are still vulnerable to cautions in the cup competitions. Wrexham managed to draw two cards from Forest on their trip to Wales earlier in the competition. 

Chelsea have collected 67 yellow cards and seven red cards across their 29 games in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 2.55 cards per game. I’d expect that average to hold here as I don’t think Chelsea will have this game all their own way - leading to more of that ill-discipline that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing with this young Chelsea side.