Struggling Newcastle face herculean tasks as Man City comes visiting

M anchester City are looking to remain on top of the Premier League on Sunday, when they travel to St James’ Park where they will face a struggling Newcastle United. The Magpies are three points away from safety but both Burnley and Watford have at least one game in hand on them, and Newcastle have […]

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anchester City are looking to remain on top of the Premier League on Sunday, when they travel to St James’ Park where they will face a struggling Newcastle United.

The Magpies are three points away from safety but both Burnley and Watford have at least one game in hand on them, and Newcastle have not beaten Man City in their last five meetings.

 Newcastle travelled to Anfield in midweek, when Jonjo Shelvey gave the visitors a perfect start in Merseyside, only for Liverpool to hit back through Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the game finishing in a 3-1 defeat for the Magpies.

Not one team has managed to beat Liverpool at Anfield this season, so the result did not come as a surprise, but the tough games keep coming for Howe’s side with Manchester United up next after this encounter with the league leaders.

Newcastle need to improve defensively if they are to climb out of the relegation zone, having conceded 37 goals in 17 matches, the worst record in the division, only keeping one clean sheet all season.

Howe’s side have averaged the lowest percentage of possession across all Premier League games this season, suggesting that the home side are going to need to endure long periods of pressure from their visitors and attack on the counter.

Manchester City are likely to be excited for this match looking at Newcastle’s defensive stats, having just thrashed Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola’s side’s goals came from all over the pitch with six different goalscorers in midweek, as Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, John Stones, Nathan Ake and a brace from Kevin De Bruyne sank Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.

That was Man City’s seventh consecutive win in the Premier League and the second clean sheet in a row, remaining with the best defence in the division having only conceded nine goals.

The league leaders’ goal difference is not quite as good as second-placed Liverpool, who have netted eight more times than City, and with only one point between them at the moment, Guardiola will want his side to improve that vastly this weekend.

A seven-goal thriller was played out between these two teams in May when they last met at St James’ Park, with Ferran Torres the hat-trick hero for Man City, who came out on the right side of the 4-3 scoreline.

Chelsea square off against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday afternoon looking for the victory which may be required to keep pace with the Premier League’s top two.

While the Blues head into the contest at Molineux in third position, Wolves retained a place in the top 10 earlier this week with a narrow win at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Having struggled to get regular points on the board of late, Thomas Tuchel’s job of instigating a turnaround has been made considerably tougher with several of his attackers testing positive for coronavirus.

Their absence was felt on Thursday as the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by a decimated Everton side, leaving Tuchel’s side four points adrift of leaders Manchester City.

With the Premier League yet to reach the halfway stage, Tuchel will not panic just yet, but the German is aware that failure to beat Wolves could leave them as clear outsiders in the title race.

Chelsea have gone six matches in all competitions without keeping a clean sheet, conceding 11 goals in the process, while only Mason Mount is showing any consistency in the final third.

The England playmaker has contributed four goals and two assists during his last four outings in the top flight, and the West Londoners will require more magic from the academy graduate against a well-oiled Wolves team.

Bruno Lage’s side will continue to come in for criticism while they average less than a goal per game this season, their return of 13 strikes the second lowest in the division.

Nevertheless, a 1-0 victory was enough to get the better of Brighton on Wednesday, Wolves keeping their sixth clean sheet of the campaign and extending a run of conceding just twice in six outings.

Seven wins have come from their last 14 in the top flight, the fifth-best return since September 11, and Wolves will relish the opportunity to heap further misery on the European champions.

While Raul Jimenez will likely get the nod in attack after suspension, Wolves showed enough at the Amex Stadium that the extra movement from three rotating attackers could be an effective tactic over the coming weeks and months.

Culled from sportsmole