FA Cup action returns this weekend with the quarter-finals and Saturday’s focus will be on Manchester City vs Newcastle, where a place at Wembley in the last four is the prize.
The current holders take on a Newcastle side who know that this is their last chance to win a trophy this season. 2023/24 has not gone the way that Eddie Howe’s Magpies would have liked but winning the FA Cup would automatically make it a good one for a club starved of silverware for a long time.
As for Man City, this is another game on the road to potentially winning a second treble. They are right in the Premier League title race, they are the favourites to win the Champions League, and perhaps the favourites for the FA Cup as well unless you’re fancying Liverpool.
Here is 90min’s preview of the FA Cup quarter-final.
|
Man City |
Newcastle |
|---|---|
|
Liverpool 1-1 Man City – 10/03/24 |
Chelsea 3-2 Newcastle – 11/03/24 |
|
Man City 3-1 Copenhagen – 06/03/24 |
Newcastle 3-0 Wolves – 02/03/2024 |
|
Man City 3-1 Man Utd – 03/03/24 |
Blackburn 1-1 Newcastle (3-4 on pens) – 27/02/2024 |
|
Luton Town 2-6 Man City – 27/02/24 |
Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle – 24/02/2024 |
|
Bournemouth 0-1 Man City – 24/02/24 |
Newcastle 2-2 Bournemouth – 17/02/2024 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
BBC One, BBC Sport Web, BBC iPlayer, talkSPORT Radio UK |
|
United States |
ESPN+, SiriusXM FC |
|
Canada |
Sportsnet World, Sportsnet Now Plus, Sportsnet World Now, Sportsnet Now, Sportsnet 360 |
Coming into the Liverpool game, Jack Grealish was the only injured Man City player. The situation has deteriorated since then and they are going to be without two of their best players against Newcastle.
Kevin De Bruyne has suffered a groin issue and he has been left out of the Belgium squad for the March friendlies. Grealish is still out, and Ederson picked up an injury against Liverpool and is going to be out for around four weeks. There is likely to be some rotation from Pep Guardiola, with players like Josko Gvardiol and Oscar Bobb starting.
Man City predicted lineup vs Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Ortega; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Bobb, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland.
There are also fresh injury concerns for Newcastle ahead of this FA Cup clash, with both Anthony Gordon and Dan Burn being forced off in the Premier League defeat against Chelsea on Monday night, although Gordon has still been selected by England.
Burn may recover in time to start but there is less expectation when it comes to Gordon. Jacob Murphy is set to gain from that, meaning he has a chance to build on his emphatic goal against Chelsea. Harvey Barnes is out again with another injury, whilst Kieran Trippier, Nick Pope, Callum Wilson, Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Joe White are all out.
Newcastle predicted lineup vs Man City (4-3-3): Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Almiron.
This has the potential to be a superb FA Cup tie with a huge amount riding on it for both teams, as long as Man City do not go into their mechanical mode and just sweep Newcastle aside. With De Bruyne and Ederson out, there is some extra intrigue.
That being said, when you look at the players that Newcastle are missing and the form they have been in, it is hard to picture anything other than another trip to Wembley for Man City and their fans.
