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 The midfielder will serve his suspension this weekend, while Sandro Tonali could also miss out - he was withdrawn late on due to cramps.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.