Returning to the starting XI are Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodrigo, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland.
Making way are Stefan Ortega Moreno, Rico Lewis, Julian Alvarez, Bernardo, Kalvin Phillips and Riyad Mahrez.
John Stones and Aymeric Laporte make a welcome return to the bench.
LINE-UPS
CITY: Ederson, Walker, Ake, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), De Bruyne, Grealish, Foden, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Stones, Laporte, Alvarez, Bernardo, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Pope, Trippier, Lascelles, Botman, Burn, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson, Gordon
Subs: Dubravka, Saint-Maximin, Ritchie, Targett, Isak, Manquillo, Murphy, Willock, Anderson
Formation
It looks very likely City will go 4-3-3 against the Magpies.
Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake will flank Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji in defence.
Rodrigo will anchor a midfield trio that include Kevin De Bruyne and skipper Ilkay Gundogan.
Up front, Jack Grealish will be on the left wing and Phil Foden on the right, with Erling Haaland in the centre.
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CAT AND MOUSE?
Arsenal’s win over Everton in midweek saw the Gunners increase their lead at the top to five points.
City and Arsenal are unlikely to kick-off at the same time very often between now and the end of the season, which means whoever plays first will have the opportunity to put pressure on the other.
The Gunners have played before the Blues every time since our 3-1 win at the Emirates, but today, City have the chance to claim three points, reduce the gap at the top to just two and put pressure on Mikel Arteta;s side ahead of their game with Bournemouth.
It is a game of cat and mouse in many ways and undoubtedly, the result of your nearest rival has a psychological effect of some kind.
City need to make sure it is a reduction of the five-point gap - if only for a few hours.
The Last Time...
Milestones & STATS
City have won their last 13 Premier League home games against Newcastle – only Everton (14 vs Fulham) have had a longer winning home run against an opponent in the competition.
Following their 3-3 draw at St James’ Park in August, Newcastle are looking to avoid defeat in both Premier League meetings with City for the first time since 2004-05 (W1 D1).
City have scored in their last 28 Premier League games against Newcastle since a 0-0 draw in November 2006. It’s the joint-longest goalscoring run one team has had against another in Premier League history, along with Manchester United against Leicester City.
City have won 14 of the last 16 Premier League home games (D1 L1), with the exceptions in this run coming in consecutive games against Brentford (1-2) and Everton (1-1) this season.
Newcastle are unbeaten in eight Premier League away games (W4 D4), with each of the last three games ending level. Only once in their top-flight history have they had a longer run without defeat on the road, going 10 games between November 1907 and March 1908 – the last six of that run were all draws.
Having lost just two of their first 29 games of 2022-23 in all competitions (W15 D12), Newcastle have since lost both of their last two matches, each by a 2-0 scoreline. The Magpies last lost three in a row in April 2022, and last did so without scoring in January 2021 (a run of four).
Newcastle are one of three sides yet to win a Premier League game when conceding first this season, along with Brentford and Nottingham Forest. However, no side has shipped the first goal in fewer matches so far than the Magpies (5).
Ederson‘s next clean sheet for City will be his 100th in the Premier League. However, he’s conceded in each of his last five games since keeping his 99th shutout – only once has he conceded in more consecutive appearances (8 between December 2018 and January 2019).
