Five things to look out for – Newcastle United vs Manchester City

Manchester City returns from the final international break of 2025 to face Newcastle United in the Premier League.

The Blues are coming off a resounding win over Liverpool before the break, while Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have had a poor start to the season after losing star man Aleksander Isak to Liverpool on deadline day.

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Here are five things to look out for at St James’s Park:

The battle of the two great attackers

Arguably the best player on both teams this season has been the tall centre-forward, who has scored the vast majority of his team’s goals of late.

Erling Haaland has already scored a sensational 32 goals for club and country this season with braces against Estonia and Italy for Norway during the international break, booking his side a place in the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Nick Woltemade, meanwhile, has had big shoes to fill following Isak’s departure, but has enjoyed a good start to life at the Magpies, with four goals in eight Premier League matches so far and three goals for Germany in two matches last week.

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Whoever Haaland and Woltemade, who are 6’5 and 6’6 inches tall respectively, get the best of opportunities and are the most clinical will likely play a decisive role in the final outcome.

City players in top form after World Cup qualifying

All City players except Gianluigi Donnarumma will already be looking ahead to the World Cup this summer after their country qualified for the international break.

Not every player is guaranteed a spot (Nico Gonzalez, for example, has yet to make his debut in Spain), but even Abdukodir Khusanov with Uzbekistan and Rayan Ait-Nouri with Algeria are expected to jet off to the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada this summer.

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Donnarumma and Italy still have to go through qualifying, where they will face Northern Ireland in the semi-final and potentially Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina in the play-off final.

The whole squad knowing there is a chance to play at the World Cup this summer will give the players confidence and motivation to bring their country’s best game back to City for the rest of the season.

A raucous family atmosphere

It has been a poor season so far for Newcastle, who appear to be struggling in Isak’s absence and are overwhelmed in midfield more often than last campaign.

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The atmosphere at St James’s Park remains one of the best in the Premier League, however, and it will be a troubling place for City.

There’s nothing the Geordies like more than a crunching tackle, and with Joelinton set to return to the team and be partnered in midfield with Bruno Guimaraes, they’ll have a bit more bite in the center of the park.

The Blues have been better at exploiting the space left by teams this season, especially with Haaland in the form he is in, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a more balanced approach of old where we see City aim to eliminate the advantage of the game with a death by 1000 passes approach, to overpower the Newcastle crowd and tire the team out.

Newcastle’s speedy attackers

None of Newcastle’s winger options have really stood out this season, but their pace in the final third can cause problems for City’s full-backs.

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Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly are the two most likely options to start outside the back four, and while both have been incredible recently, they still attack midfielders by trade and can potentially be breached, especially when caught venturing forward.

Anthony Gordon hasn’t been great of late and has struggled with injuries, but could return against City. In his absence, Harvey Barnes can frustrate but he is also a good finisher and has a wonderful goal in him.

On the other side, Jacob Murphy had a good campaign last season and played an important role in Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win last year, while new signing Anthony Elanga shone for Nottingham Forest last year and is still finding his feet at his new club.

A more transitional game for Newcastle will particularly highlight the strengths of these players, so I expect Eddie Howe to base his game plan on finding his wingers in space.

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A high-scoring match

These two teams don’t have perfect defenses, and the opportunity under the Northeast lights could lead to an exciting matchup.

City are still affected by the absence of Rodri, while Newcastle will be missing Dan Burn, and Tino Livramento and Gordon will be doubtful.

Both parties are capable of causing trouble while being vulnerable themselves, which always makes for an exciting, high-scoring affair.