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How Manchester City could line up against Newcastle United

How Man City could line up against Newcastle
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Sports Mole looks at how Manchester City could line up for Sunday's Premier League trip to face Newcastle United at St James' Park.

Manchester City could be without Bernardo Silva for Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle United at St James' Park.

The Portuguese midfielder, who has been arguably the champions' standout player this season, did not emerge for the second half of Tuesday's 7-0 hammering of Leeds United due to a muscular injury.

Pep Guardiola played down the severity of the problem after the match and insisted that the substitution was just a precaution, but he is unlikely to take any risks with one of his star men in the middle of such a packed schedule, especially for a fixture against a team joint-bottom of the table.

Guardiola will be in the dugout after returning a negative coronavirus test following an initially inconclusive one.

Ordinarily after a 7-0 win, most teams would be expected to name an unchanged side, but Guardiola rarely does that and he could rotate some players for this match in order to keep legs fresh.

Joao Cancelo is back available after suspension and should return at right-back, although John Stones, who filled in in that position in midweek, did his chances of another start no harm at all with a goalscoring performance.

Raheem Sterling will also hope to be recalled, while Ilkay Gundogan could come into the XI to replace Silva, having registered two assists off the bench against Leeds.

There is no shortage of attacking talent at Guardiola's disposal, but the visitors will be without Ferran Torres, who scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season but remains sidelined by a foot injury.

Kyle Walker will be assessed after missing out in midweek too, while Liam Delap is absent with an ankle problem.

Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Sterling, Grealish

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How you voted: Newcastle vs Man City

Newcastle United
17.4%
Draw
6.7%
Manchester City
75.9%
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff celebrate with the EFL Cup on February 25, 2018
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City1814224493544
2Liverpool18125150153541
3Chelsea18115239122738
4Arsenal1810262723432
5West Ham UnitedWest Ham178452821728
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd168352624227
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs158251819-126
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves187471314-125
9Leicester CityLeicester166462727022
10Aston Villa177192325-222
11Crystal Palace174852424020
12Brentford165562122-120
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton164841417-320
14Everton175482129-819
15Southampton173861626-1017
16Leeds UnitedLeeds183781836-1816
17Watford1641112131-1013
18Burnley151861421-711
19Newcastle UnitedNewcastle1817101841-2310
20Norwich CityNorwich172411834-2610

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