Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It’s all the important game in hand for both these sides but it’s important for far different reasons. Newcastle need to win to climb out of the bottom 3 while Manchester City require victory to strengthen their bid not just for Champions League Football next season but also a Top 3 finish.
It was a massive win for Newcastle on Saturday as they beat Swansea 3-0. Swansea were very much there for the taking what with their own safety assured and Newcastle didn’t pass up the opportunity to close the gap which stands between themselves and safety. They were no doubt helped by their North East rivals Sunderland picking up a 3-0 win on Saturday Lunchtime over fellow strugglers Norwich. That in turn has intensified the relegation battle and it could be even more of a dogged fight if Rafa Benitez can mastermind back to back victories.
They go up against a Manchester City side that strolled to victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday Evening. Their 3-0 disposal of the soon to be former Premier League Champions Chelsea saw them move to third for at least 24 hours but after Arsenal dropped points at The Emirates on Sunday it sees City stay ahead of The Gunners in the race for the last automatic Champions League place.
Sergio Aguero was back to his best as he bagged a hat-trick to take his tally to 21 goals and just keep him on the fringes of the golden boot battle between Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy. If he was to repeat the feat of getting a hat-trick tonight he would then go level with Kane and also would have scored more goals than Aston Villa this season.
It’s not going to be City though as Newcastle have finally ticked off that first win under Rafa Benitez’s stewardship and as previous experience shows it’s never easy to get points when visiting a side that are scrapping for their lives. That said I still think City will have enough quality to leave Newcastle in the bottom three and strengthen their top three credentials. An away win for me.
Papa Johns – If your team scores twice then it’s half price
