Key events
23 min: Dias is down and unhappy. Gordon stuck his studs on his calf. Dias gets back up and prepares to engage in a square go. Burn comes across to ensure things don’t escalate. It’s a yellow card, but it could easily have been a red. Who knows these days?
21 min: Tonali and Almiron combine well down the right to set Isak dribbling into the box. Isak sits Gvardiol down before cutting back for Almiron, who dummies to allow Joelinton to hit a shot first time … except Joelinton can’t sort his feet out to get an effort away. Shame, it was a lovely move.
19 min: Now it’s Newcastle’s turn to show they can boss possession for a bit. City hold their shape and there’s no way into their final third.
17 min: Gordon drops a shoulder to make some space down the left. He zips towards the box and crosses towards Almiron at the far stick. Akanji is on point to clear. Newcastle’s first serious attack and it was a dangerous one.
16 min: Foden creams a lovely long pass down the inside-left channel. Haaland prepares to tear clear but Trippier comes across to intercept. City are beginning to seriously threaten, though Pope hasn’t been put to work as of yet.
14 min: Akanji chances his arm from 25 yards. It’s a decent curler aimed towards the top left. Inches over the bar. Pope probably had it covered, though.
13 min: Kovacic hipshakes his way through the centre circle, and suddenly there’s a chance to release Haaland down the middle. The pass isn’t of the same quality as the shake ‘n’ shimmy.
11 min: Newcastle press hard, Almiron very nearly closing down Ederson. But the keeper plays out calmly. Up the other end, City press even harder, Foden stealing the ball from Joelinton and feeding Haaland down the inside-left channel. The crowd begin to roar in anticipation, then sigh as Haaland takes a heavy touch and runs the ball out for a goal kick. For a split second there, goal number three of Haaland’s season looked on.
9 min: Foden spins into a little bit of space down the left. Alvarez takes up possession and slips an in-flight Grealish into the box. Grealish drops a shoulder but can’t quite make enough space to shoot from a tight angle.
7 min: Grealish rolls in a cute diagonal pass from the left. Haaland tries to shuttle it immediately down the channel to release Foden, but Schar is on point to intercept and clear. A slick move that nearly paid off.
5 min: Schar is back in situ. City are hogging the ball. Haaland thinks about driving down the right wing but Botman comes across to slam the door shut.
3 min: Schar landed heavily on his outstretched arm. The physios come on. Schar grimaces hard. But it looks like the pain’s been caused by the shock of impact, and there’s no lasting damage. Well, he’s going to continue for now, anyway, and the doctors seem happy enough about it.
1 min: Schar goes up for a high ball with Haaland, and falls awkwardly. This doesn’t look great. He holds his right shoulder and appears to be in some distress.
There’s a match to be played, and City get the game underway. A couple of minutes late, but winning a Treble’s got to give you a bit of slack.
A huge TREBLE WINNERS banner covers nearly all of the pitch. Hey Jude, as performed by Everton’s Paul McCartney, blasts from the speakers. A party atmosphere all right. Fireworks. Then the players arrive, and they’re afforded a little strip of grass to stand on. Eventually they start folding up the folderol. “It only seems like yesterday that this fixture was being graced by the likes of Georgios Samaras and Craig Moore,” recalls Chris Paraskevas. “Back then it was a bonus to see an outbreak of flowing football when these teams played: all the talk was about relegation and long-suffering fans. Now this fixture is stacked with the likes of Haaland and Isak and NUFC have a dedicated documentary / four-part puff-piece on Amazon. When did the world turn upside down?” ˙ǝʇnuᴉɯ ɐ uᴉ ɟɟo ǝq ll,ǝM
The last time the City faithful congregated here was on 21 May, the day after Nottingham Forest beat Arsenal, the day Ilkay Gundogan lifted the Premier League trophy. Since then, City have popped another three pieces of silverware on the mantelpiece in the shape of the FA Cup, Champions League and Super Cup. The Etihad is therefore en fête, with the three Treble baubles proudly carried out by three club legends in Mike Summerbee (FA Cup), Tommy Booth (Premier League) and Joe Corrigan (Champions League) and displayed pitchside. Newcastle fans, who haven’t seen their heroes win anything since the 1969 Fairs Cup, will presumably be looking on with lip-smacking anticipation. Their wait’s got to end soon, right?
Both teams can go top this evening with a win. But they’ll have to win big if they want to topple Brighton, who completed their second 4-1 of the season at Wolves this afternoon. They’re already eight in the bag! City would have to win by four clear goals, or by a margin of three providing they score at least six. Newcastle need any three-goal victory, or a two-goal margin providing they score at least four. Not that it really matters at this stage of the season, though try telling that to the Seagulls right now.
Pep Guardiola talks to TNT, and is congratulated on City’s Super Cup triumph over Sevilla. “We are so happy. It is the past. Onto next.” Then onto the meat of the interview. “We are happy to be back after the last game of the last season … Julian Alvarez is fresh … but maybe Cole Palmer will help in the second half … we saw how good Newcastle are against Aston Villa … in a short time they have put themselves at the level they want to be … their recruitment is fantastic so the quality is there … we are ready for a challenge and are happy to be home … we know exactly what we have to do, we have to win it again.”
Eddie Howe speaks to TNT Sports. “The team performed really well last week … there weren’t many weaknesses in our play or style so I’ve gone with the same team … but always looking at the opposition to give us the best chance … we’re pushing each other every day to try to win as many games as we can … it’s just about trying to win each match … [City] are the best team in the land … this is the toughest game we’ll have away from home this year … we’ll try to impose ourselves but it’ll be a really difficult game … I’m really excited about our new players, they give us a different dynamic … our squad is going to be hugely important with the games we have in the Champions League … everyone is involved, we want everyone to feel part of it, whether they’re starting or not starting, and be ready to make an impact when they come on.”
Manchester City make two changes from the starting XI named for the Uefa Super Cup final in Athens on Wednesday night. Ruben Dias and Julian Alvarez replace Nathan Ake and Cole Palmer, who both drop to the bench. Josko Gvardiol makes his first Premier League start.
Newcastle are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. Exactly the same XI that started the 5-1 hammering of Aston Villa last weekend.
The teams
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Foden, Alvarez, Grealish, Haaland.
Subs: Phillips, Ake, Ortega, Gomez, Perrone, Bobb, Palmer, Lewis, McAtee.
Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Dubravka, Lascelles, Wilson, Ritchie, Targett, Barnes, Livramento, Anderson, Longstaff.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).
Preamble
Too early to call this a title-race six-pointer? Yes, you’re right, just one game in, it certainly is. Then again, it is the Treble champions versus an upwardly mobile side who strutted their way to a 5-1 victory on the opening day. So, well, y’know. Some three-point hauls are bigger than others, let’s put it like that.
Manchester City won comfortably enough at Burnley in their opening fixture. They’ve just added the Super Cup to last season’s swag. Erling Haaland is already on two goals. But they’ve lost their talisman Kevin De Bruyne to injury, while the influential pair John Stones and Bernardo Silva are both missing tonight. Confidence will still be pretty darn high, to be fair, but nothing’s perfect.
Newcastle meanwhile are in fine fettle. All of their big guns are available. They were imperious in swatting aside a highly regarded Aston Villa team last weekend, the sort of statement performance that had many a pundit wondering aloud: they couldn’t end that 96-year wait, could they? No, you’re right, we’re one game in, let’s all calm down. Alexander Isak looks the real deal, mind.
So having set this match up as a showdown of near-equals, it would be remiss of us not to point out that City have won their last 14 top-flight home matches against the Toon, to a tune of 48-7. The only time Newcastle have won away at City in their last 38 top-flight attempts was when Alan Shearer scored the only goal at Maine Road in 2000. Oh, and City have won 21 of their last 23 Premier League games at home, drawing the two others, and are on a run of 16 consecutive home wins in all competitions. So there is all that to consider. Kick off at the Etihad is at 8pm BST. It’s on!