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Manchester City's perfect season has been dashed. The Citizens won't be all that bothered by being handed their first loss of the season last week against Liverpool, but if they make a habit of getting less than stellar results, the Premier League title chase could be back on.
Pep Guardiola will be on his club this week to continue to push to the finish line in fine form. This week's match against Newcastle shouldn't theoretically be a huge problem.
Don't miss the English Premier League action from Etihad Stadium at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 20, 2017. Catch every moment of the match live on NBC.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Manchester City -1000
Newcastle +1800 Draw +800
Over/Under 3.5
Odds Analysis
Teams aren't -1000 in the Premier League all that often, but it's hard to say that Manchester City should be anything less. The Citizens have yet to be beaten this year at the Etihad, and goodness help the team stuck in the middle of the relegation fight coming to Manchester off of the hosts' first loss of the season.
The Citizens are favored by a whopping 2.5 goals, and that's why the total in this match has to be so high at 3.5 with -140 vig on the over.
A lottery ticket on the Magpies to steal all three points would pay 18 to 1.
Key Injuries
Vincent Kompany hasn't been featured in the Manchester City lineup since the last time these two teams met on December 27. The captain suffered a knock after just 10 minutes and came off the field, and he isn't likely to play in this duel either. The same can be said for Fabian Delph and Gabriel Jesus, both of whom are facing at least another week or two on the touchline. Benjamin Mendy also has a knee injury and is out for the rest of the season.
Jesus Gamez has been out for Newcastle since the middle of December, and he isn't expected back anytime soon. Florian Lejeune and Aleksandar Mitrovic are both long-term absentees at this point. The news is better on Dwight Gayle, though, as he is expected to be fine after coming off against Swansea City last weekend after an hour and change.
Recent Form
Newcastle was stuck in the relegation zone when these two teams last met at the end of December, but since that point, the Magpies have racked up eight points of a possible 12. That type of run is exactly what the doctor ordered for Newcastle to get it up to 15th on the table, though it should be noted that there are still just three points separating it from 18th-place Stoke City.
Everyone is entitled to a bad match every now and again in the EPL, and that's what happened last week for the Citizens. They walked into the perfect storm against Liverpool at Anfield and were very unfortunate to concede four times. Even still, they fought back and scored the last two goals of the match to create some nervous tension on the grounds for the hosts, but there simply wasn't enough time to erase the 4-1 deficit.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
There's no way Manchester City is falling flat again. The Citizens are surely going to be tired of hearing about being on a "slump," and that probably means good things for Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero on the offensive end of the pitch.
Newcastle might be in good form, but it's still an overmatched team. The Magpies are going to try to park the proverbial bus on the back line and hope for the best for 90 minutes, but that hope is going to be severely misguided.
This match has a huge blowout written all over it.
English Premier League Odds: Manchester City 5, Newcastle 0
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