Pep Guardiola laughed off suggestions his Manchester City had already established control of the Premier League title race after Liverpool's early hiccups. Guardiola's side have begun the new campaign strongly with two wins from two games and no goals conceded, while Liverpool have drawn with Fulham and Crystal Palace. Guardiola will be wary of a Newcastle side who have thrived under Eddie Howe and started the season in solid fashion.Read Less
Manchester City XI: Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo; Kevin De Bruyne, Rodrigo, Ilkay Gundogan; Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva.
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Dias, Phillips, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Mbete, Palmer, Lewis
Newcastle United XI: Nick Pope; Kieran Trippier, Sven Botman, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn; Joe Willock, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton; Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin.
Subs: Chris Wood, Elliot Anderson, Martin Dubravka, Ryan Fraser, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, Sean Longstaff, Matt Ritchie.
With Man City again setting the pace and bolstered by the arrival of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, a Newcastle defence that has improved beyond recognition since Howe took charge faces the ultimate test of its resilience. Newcastle, like City, have not conceded in their opening two games against Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion.
It's a good game at a really early stage of the season to see how far we've come as a team. I think it's a challenge to be attacked and relished rather than feared. I think our defenders are in a good place at the moment. I think as a team we've defended well. There's always room for improvement, but I think this is the ultimate test, not just as the back. We have to protect our defenders but we also have to give Manchester City a threat the other way, we can't be too passive in what we deliver.
Check out Man City's Starting XI
🔵 TEAM NEWS 🔵 XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, Haaland, Fod… https://t.co/FO4wu5q4dL
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Here's Newcastle United Starting XI for today
Unchanged. 💪 HWTL! ⚫️⚪️ https://t.co/b3B9NjUhd7
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Newcastle have begun the season in solid fashion, with four points from their opening two games, but Howe says a clash with City will be the real barometer of his team's progress. Howe saw his side beaten 5-0 away and 4-0 at home by Guardiola's City last season -- results he said looked worse on paper than they were in reality.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has lost all 10 of his previous meeting with Pep Guardiola including two heavy defeats last season, but believes his side must relish the challenge of facing Manchester City today.
Guardiola will be wary of a Newcastle side who have thrived under Eddie Howe and started the season in solid fashion.
It's very early days. I'm sorry but after two fixtures we cannot make any plans about the future. After two games? Yeah yeah, just 111 points to play for. The three weeks were good, good long weeks of training. In September that is not going to happen. We have to improve our principles, our game. The last two games were really good, and at some points unexpected. The players prove to me again how wrong I was.
Guardiola's side have begun the new campaign strongly with two wins from two games and no goals conceded, while Liverpool have drawn with Fulham and Crystal Palace.
Pep Guardiola laughed off suggestions his Manchester City had already established control of the Premier League title race after Liverpool's early hiccups. City and Liverpool were almost inseparable last season with City securing a fourth title in five years on the final day.
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the English Premier League match between Newcastle United and Manchester City.