Manchester City travel to Newcastle on Tuesday with close to a full squad of players.
Kevin De Bruyne has returned from a lengthy injury while David Silva and Sergio Aguero have shaken off problems that kept them out of action in December.
MAN CITY INJURIES
Benjamin Mendy is returning from knee surgery but his return is being managed carefully and he is very unlikely to start at Newcastle.
Vincent Kompany is ruled out through injury, while Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko are doubtful after being deemed not fit enough to be in the squad that beat Burnley at the weekend.
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MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS
Neither side have any suspensions.
Next Match
MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Guardiola could pick close to what many people would consider his strongest XI for the trip to St James' Park.
Mendy would perhaps feature in most teams but in his absence Danilo seems likely to start, given he has done well in the position in recent weeks.
There are not too many other contentious spots in the team. Nicolas Otamendi could play at centre-back but Guardiola is expecting a defensive performance from Newcastle and while Salomon Rondon's aeriel presence is a threat to City, the passing ability of John Stones could help facilitate City's build-up play, alongside the almost ever-present Aymeric Laporte.
De Bruyne and David Silva are generally considered City's best options as No.8's and although Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have deputised well for one or the other this season, it is likely that last season's first-choice pairing will be started.
And while Gabriel Jesus has done well of late, the fact that Sergio Aguero was on the bench at the weekend suggests he was being kept fresh. That also goes for Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling, who seem good bets to return to the XI.
NEWCASTLE TEAM NEWS
Rafa Benitez has a few injury worries to contend with for the visit of the champions.
"The midfielders are very close, but not ready for this game so it's more or less the same [squad]," he said in his press conference on Monday, confirming that Jonjo Shelvey (thigh) and Mo Diame (hip) will miss out. Ki Seung-Yung returned from the Asian Cup with a hamstring strain and will also miss out.
Joselu is on the sidelines with a hamstring injury picked up against Watford in the FA Cup at the weekend, and the game comes too soon for Karl Darlow (elbow) and Paul Dummett (hamstring).
OPTA MATCH FACTS
- Newcastle are winless in their last 22 Premier League games against Man City (D3 L19) – both Newcastle’s longest winless run and Man City’s longest unbeaten run against any top-flight opponent.
- Man City have taken 46 points from their last 48 available against Newcastle (W15 D1 L0), scoring 45 goals and conceding nine in that run.
- Manchester City have won their last four Premier League games, winning the last two by a 3-0 scoreline.
- Man City have scored the opening goal a league-high 20 times in Premier League games this season (W18 D0 L2), while Newcastle have lost all 11 of their games in which they’ve conceded first – the highest such 100% defeat record this season.
- This will be Man City manager Pep Guardiola’s 100th Premier League game in charge. He’s won 73 of his 99 so far (D15 L11) – the record for most wins by a manager in their opening 100 matches in the competition is 73, held by Jose Mourinho.
- Man City’s Raheem Sterling is currently on 99 goal involvements in his Premier League career (59 goals, 40 assists in 212 games).
- Man City’s Sergio Aguero has scored 14 goals in his 12 Premier League appearances against Newcastle – more than any player has scored against an opponent for a single club in the competition’s history.
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
Kick off is 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET) on Tuesday, and will be shown on BT Sport in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on NBC in the United States, and on various channels around the world.
