Manchester City vs Newcastle United (FA Cup Quarter-Final): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

Manchester City play host to Newcastle United in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, as they inch closer to defending their status as winners of the competition.

Saturday evening’s match will be the first time Manchester City have stepped out onto the pitch since their Premier League clash with Liverpool last weekend, in a contest that proved to be a challenge for both title-chasing sides.

In a tight and tense affair, it was Guardiola’s players who struck first as they showed off their set-piece prowess through John Stones finding the back of the net on the 23rd minute, putting his team ahead 0-1 ahead at Anfield.

The Sky Blues’ lead would not last long into the second-half as Alexis Mac Allister scored from the penalty spot following a foul on Darwin Nunez, who collided with Ederson over a loose ball inside the City box. The Brazilian goalkeeper would leave the match as a result through a thigh injury, throwing his availability for a meeting with Arsenal at the end of this month into doubt.

The deadlock would last throughout the remainder of the second half, despite numerous attempts from the Reds’ Luis Diaz, as well as shots on target from City’s Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden.

With both sides leaving Anfield with a point, Manchester City sat in third place spot in the Premier League table behind both Liverpool and Arsenal, but only via a single point, following the Gunners’ 2-1 win against Brentford.

Last time out in the FA Cup, Manchester City thrashed fellow Premier League side Luton Town 2-6 at Kenilworth road, as Erling Haaland found the back of the net on five separate occasions, as well as a solo goal from Mateo Kovacic and four assists from Kevin De Bruyne.

Fixture Details

Manchester City will play Newcastle United in the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday 16 March at the Etihad Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 17:30 BST.

Team News

Following his early exit against Liverpool, Ederson is set to miss out on the FA Cup quarter-final tie, but Pep Guardiola has noted that he is “getting better”. Stefan Ortega will pick up the Brazilian’s time between the goalposts, but would’ve started this contest regardless of his colleague’s fitness.

The Catalan manager has also stated that Kevin De Bruyne will not be ready for the Newcastle match, but is in good spirits following a minor groin injury and accepted withdrawal from Belgium’s international duty following conversation with manager Domenico Tedesco.

Jack Grealish, who has not appeared in a match for Manchester City since the last round of the FA Cup at Luton Town due to an injury to his groin sustained in that clash, could make a return this weekend but is unlikely to feature too much, if at all.

“Yeah (Jack Grealish) is getting better,” said Pep Guardiola during his pre-match press conference. “Will be selected, he’s in the group (for this weekend’s game).”

Head to Head

In recent memory, the Magpies have provided City with quite the challenge, despite the end results, having fought tooth and nail in their meeting earlier on this season that saw the reigning Premier League champions leave St. James’ Park with all three points.

The last time Eddie Howe’s side won over Pep Guardiola’s squad also happened earlier on this season in the Carabao Cup third round, when the North-East club sneaked a 1-0 home win thanks to an Alexander Isak goal in the 53rd minute.

Statistics

• This is the first FA Cup meeting between Manchester City and Newcastle since the 2019/20 quarter-final, with the Citizens winning 2-0 at St James’ Park.
• Newcastle have lost 15 of their last 16 away games against Manchester City in all competitions, including the last nine in a row. The exception was a 2-0 League Cup victory in October 2014.
• Manchester City have progressed from their last sİx FA Cup quarter-final ties, since losing to Wigan in 2013-14. They’ve won at this stage in each of the last five seasons and could become the first team in FA Cup history to reach the semi- finals in six consecutive campaigns.
• Newcastle are looking to reach the FA Cup semi- final for the first time since 2004-05, going out at this stage of the competition twice since then (2005-06 and 2019-20).
• Manchester City were eliminated by Newcastle from this season’s League Cup the last team to knock them out of both domestic cup competitions in the same campaign were Tottenham Hotspur in 1992-93.

How to Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, Saturday’s match will be televised on BBC One.

For viewers in the United States, the quarter-final match will be shown on ESPN+, with kick-off scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EST.

For fans living elsewhere, you can find the TV listings here!

You can also follow the match on the City Xtra YouTube channel via our live Watchalong show!