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2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 25
Manchester City v Newcastle United
Etihad Stadium
Manchester, England
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Kick-off is at 16h00
Manchester City will be desperate to get their
Premier League top-four challenge back on track when they host Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, February 15.
The Citizens' recent struggles came to the fore again as they suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal on February 2, which was the fourth time this season they had conceded four or more goals in a game.
Pep Guardiola's side saw a six-match unbeaten run come to an end in the process and they dropped down to fifth place after Chelsea beat West Ham 2-1 to climb back above them in the table.
City trail the Blues (4th) by two points and find themselves six adrift of surprise-package Nottingham Forest (3rd), while the Magpies (6th) and Bournemouth (7th) missed out on the opportunity to leapfrog them after both teams also lost on matchday 24.
The Tynesiders squandered the lead at St James' Park to go down 2-1 to Fulham on February 1, making it two losses in their last three league outings.
However, Eddie Howe's side will have a spring in their step after triumphing 2-0 over Arsenal in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals on February 5 to book a final date with Liverpool.
Guardiola continues to be without long-term absentee Rodri (knee), but he could be boosted by the potential return of Nathan Ake (muscular) and Jeremy Doku, while Ederson and Nico will be hoping to shrug off their respective knocks.
Howe is sweating on the fitness of Sven Botman (knee) and Dan Burn (groin) as he is already without Jamaal Lascelles, Joelinton (both knee) and Harvey Barnes (thigh).
Guardiola paid tribute to Jack Grealish for helping to turn the tide in City's favour after they trailed to Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fourth round, with the winger providing an assist for Kevin De Bruyne's winner.
"I'm pleased for Jack," the Spaniard said. "Jack has the sense of the street, a player from the street. Most of the players, for our fault - the manager - are so academic.
"Jack is one of those players that came to fight in these stadiums when the people shout; he is a fighter.
"I am really pleased because the last games he didn't play because Savinho in the last games make an incredible connection with Erling [Haaland] for his left foot but this season is still open. I'm happy for the performance."
Howe believes the Toon are ready to fight for silverware on a more regular basis after they reached the EFL Cup final for the second time in three years, having eliminated Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Brentford and the Gunners to get there.
"It's huge. The first Wembley appearance was brilliant, it was sort of unexpected, but a club like this and where it wants to be, we need to be there regularly. We need to feel it's not a surprise," he said.
"We're here on merit, our run's not been easy. Look at the teams we've had to face; I think it's four Premier League teams if I'm right, but we've done the hard yards and we've now got an opportunity.
"Hopefully we can learn from the last one and just improve our performance."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Man City wins - 3
Newcastle wins - 0
Draws - 2
Premier League Matchday 25 fixtures:
Friday, February 14
22h00: Brighton & Hove Albion v Chelsea
Saturday, February 15
14h30: Leicester City v Arsenal
17h00: Aston Villa v Ipswich Town
17h00: Fulham v Nottingham Forest
17h00: Manchester City v Newcastle United
17h00: Southampton v Bournemouth
17h00: West Ham United v Brentford
19h30: Crystal Palace v Everton
Sunday, February 16
16h00: Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers
18h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
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