Alan Pardew’s team faces a real challenge which will show whether the Magpies are as good as the leaders of the Premier League. The challenge will start with the away match at the Etihad Stadium, where they will meet with the classification leader - Manchester City.

Classification and condition of the teams:
The Citizens can boast an excellent start to the season. Roberto Mancini’s team scored 31 out of 33 possible points (they tied only with Fulham) and with the advantage of 5 points they are ahead of the second team in the table - Manchester United. Newcastle is a phenomenon of the championship. Football players from St James' Park have not lost a single match this season, and their balance is 7 wins and 4 draws which totals 25 points. Both teams performed well in the games before the break at exhibition games and qualifiers for Euro 2012. We are left with no choice but to wait for an interesting performance.

Potential and team’s situation:
The place of these teams in the islands is a complete surprise. The fact that City will lead in the Premier League was already obvious the previous season. But very few people expected that after 11 rounds they will have several points of advantage over the main championship favorite. The game of Newcastle United is even more surprising. Even the fans of the Magpies did not believe in such good results of his team. The face-off between the forwards of both teams Marco Balotelli and Demba Ba will be particularly interesting. The Italian scored three times during the last 5 games. Senegalese player Demba Ba is even in a better condition, since he scored 5 goals in five previous matches. Out: Manchester City - Aguero, Nasri, Hargreaves, Silva and Kompany, in Newcastle - Best, Obertan, Williamson, Ameobi, Marvo, Tioté.

History of the matches:
The Citizens have had an obvious advantage over Newcastle in recent years. The Magpies managed to win a victory over their Saturday’s opponent in the last 10 games. It happened on September 24, 2005 at St James' Park when they won 1-0 after a goal by Michael Owen. Manchester City, which was winning over the Magpies time after time under Roberto Mancini, won six out of seven matches.

Forecast and justification:
Meetings between Manchester City and Newcastle were the matches with a huge number of goals scored during the last decade. The results of the four previous matches of City and Newcastle United are as follows: 3-1, 2-1, 2-1, 2-2. The Magpies scored goals in eight Premier League matches while the Citizens scored 3 goals during the last 5 matches. We are left with no choice but to recommend betting on more than 2.5 goals, with odds of 1.60 at Bet365.