Runaway Premiership leaders Man City will aim to extend their unbeaten run into the second half of the season when they travel to St James’s Park on December 27. Pep Guardiola’s men have played 19 games and still not lost, winning 18 and drawing one. They are now shaping up to face everyone again in a bid to match Arsenal’s 2003-04 Invincibles campaign and the odds on them doing so keep plummeting. Newcastle are unlikely to offer stern opposition as the gulf in class between these two teams is extremely wide, and Man City should take another three points here.
Despite being halfway through the season, Man City have not played Newcastle yet. However, the statistics point to a long evening for the home side as City are breaking goalscoring records and the Magpies are leaking goals. Man City have the league’s best away record, nine wins out of nine, and Newcastle have lost five out of nine at home. It is hard to envisage anything but a comfortable away win for Man City in this game. The oddsmakers have reacted accordingly and the best price available of the Citizens is 13/50 with Marathon Bet, while most Green-Listed Bookmakers are offering 1/4.
You need to look at other markets to find value and City’s marvelous goal-scoring prowess should help to that end. Man City to win and over 2.5 goals pushes it out to 8/13 with Coral, Betfred and Betway, while Man City and over 3.5 goals gets you 13/10 with Boyle Sports and Betway. City have won their last three games 4-0, 4-1 and 4-0 and are in absolutely sensational goalscoring form. Newcastle beat West Ham 3-2 last time out to arrest a four-game losing streak, but they are likely to get taken apart on Wednesday. They have conceded 29 goals in 19 games this season and will find the likes of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling too hot to handle.
Kevin De Bruyne is liable to run this game from the centre of the park, conducting the Man City orchestra with his phenomenal vision, work rate and range of passing. Newcastle do not have the quickest defenders and they will struggle with the pace of City’s attack. You would expect City to put a few past Newcastle given the form they are in. Tottenham have had the league’s best defence over the past few years and City put four past them this month, and they should make short work of the Magpies. Man City -2 Asian handicap is 6/5 with Paddy Power, which looks interesting. Newcastle have not lost by more than one goal since December 2, when Chelsea beat them 3-1, but City have the league’s best attack.
Another option would be to go for Man City to win to nil. They are earning rave reviews for their attacking play this season, and rightly so, but the improvement at the back has also been tremendous. They have conceded just 12 goals in 19 games so far this season, and the defence has been particularly mean on the road. In nine away games, they have shipped just five goals and that sort of form is propelling them to the title. City to win to nil is 23/20 with Bet Victor, which looks interesting as Newcastle only score an average of a goal per game and they will not see much of the ball on Wednesday night. Aguero will be City’s main threat, but Sterling has matched him this season with 12 goals and he looks a great option at 6/5 with Marathon Bet and 11/10 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power.
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