Newcastle United vs Manchester City. Premier League.
St James' Park, NewcastleAttendance52,311.
Wednesday 27 December 2017 20:01, UK
Manchester City will be looking to win their 18th Premier League game in a row when they face Newcastle on Wednesday.
Manchester City's seemingly unstoppable march towards the Premier League title continued after beating Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola's men still have dropped points just once this season, at home to Everton in the second round of matches on August 21.
But Newcastle will want to build on the momentum from beating West Ham 3-2 on Saturday which put an end to their nine-match winless run. A shock victory for Rafa Benitez's side would lift them further away from the relegation zone.
City defender John Stones is back in training after a hamstring injury but the game is likely to come too soon for a comeback.
Left-back Benjamin Mendy (knee) and midfielder Phil Foden (ankle) are long-term absentees.
Midfielder Jonjo Shelvey will be available after suspension, having missed the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal and Saturday's 3-2 victory at West Ham after picking up his second red card of the season against Everton.
The midfield duo of Mikel Merino and Isaac Hayden, who sat out at the London Stadium with knocks, will be assessed, but full-back Jesus Gamez (ankle surgery) and striker Aleksandar Mitrovic (back) are still out.
Newcastle have picked up just three points from their last 57 available in the Premier League against Manchester City (W0 D3 L16), though their draw last time out ended a run of 12 consecutive defeats against them.
If Manchester City avoid defeat, they'll set a new club record of 20 unbeaten league games against a specific opponent (also went 19 unbeaten vs Barnsley between 1898 and 1987).
Only Manchester United (13 against Wigan) have ever had a longer winning run against the same opponent than Man City's recent run of 12 vs Newcastle.
This is the fifth time in top-flight history that Manchester City have been top on Christmas Day (1903-04, 1912-13, 1929-30 & 2011-12) but the previous four occasions have seen them go on to win the title just once (2011-12).
Man City played in second gear and still beat Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday! They won 4-0 in second gear, so I am going to go for another 4-0 win. I think City will just rip them apart and Newcastle have had their result (beating West Ham). The problem is that Newcastle will sit 10 men behind the ball, but you are going to get broken down before the end of the game. City are just relentless. It is no disrespect to Newcastle, who had a massive football result at West Ham on Saturday, but City will beat better teams than Newcastle by more than 4-0.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-4 (10/1 with Sky Bet)
