At St James’ Park, two long-acquainted adversaries will clash.
Newcastle United and Manchester City are set to go head-to-head for the fifth encounter of the current campaign at St James’ Park, with both clubs aiming for advancement to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
These two sides have engaged in several captivating clashes earlier this season, with Newcastle securing a 2-1 league victory over City on home turf, and suffering defeat by an identical margin in the return match. City secured a 5-1 aggregate triumph following a two-match semi-final in the EFL Cup.
Both clubs approach this match preceding midweek Champions League fixtures; Newcastle are poised to welcome Barcelona, and City will be reacquainting themselves with Real Madrid in the round of 16. Furthermore, they each participated in highly demanding Premier League matches on Wednesday. Newcastle secured a last-minute victory over Manchester United, even though they played a significant portion of the match shorthanded with 10 players, while City were forced to a thrilling 2-2 stalemate by Nottingham Forest.
Consequently, both Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola are presented with a formidable challenge: to mitigate player exhaustion while simultaneously fielding the most potent squad available. 101GreatGoals provides a comprehensive update on team selections.
Newcastle United squad updates
Tino Livramento recovers from a hamstring ailment for Newcastle, though he is only deemed sufficiently fit for a substitute role. The right-back has been sidelined since the third-round penalty shootout triumph over Bournemouth in January.
Nick Woltemade rejoins the initial lineup after an illness prevented the Magpies’ club-record acquisition from participating in the midweek victory.
William Osula, who netted a magnificent decisive goal in the 90th minute against Michael Carrick’s men, earns a place in the attacking lineup.
Anthony Gordon, Joelinton, and Dan Burn are all moved to the substitute’s bench among four alterations to the starting eleven from three days prior. Sven Botman and Joe Willock are also introduced into the squad, while Jacob Ramsey is unavailable due to a contentious red card.
Aaron Ramsdale, whose performance was crucial to that win, keeps his position between the posts over Nick Pope.
Newcastle United: Ramsdale; Trippier (c), Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Tonali, Willock; Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes; Osula.
Newcastle United substitutes: Pope, Joelinton, Wissa, Gordon, Livramento, J. Murphy, Burn, A. Murphy, Neave.
Manchester City squad updates
Erling Haaland is absent from the City lineup among 10 alterations to the team that drew with Forest.
Nico O’Reilly is back from an injury layoff for City and will aim to replicate his performance from the previous league encounter against Newcastle, in which he netted both strikes at the Etihad Stadium.
James Trafford, Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Nico, Jeremy Doku, Tijjani Reijnders, Omar Marmoush and Savinho are introduced into the initial lineup alongside O’Reilly.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Rodri, Bernardo, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Antoine Semenyo and Phil Foden are all moved to the substitute’s bench.
Mateo Kovacic (ankle) and Josko Gvardiol (leg fracture) are still sidelined, while Rico Lewis is also absent owing to insufficient match fitness.
Manchester City: Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Stones (c), Ake; Nico, Reijnders, O’Reilly; Savinho, Doku, Marmoush.
Manchester City substitutes: Donnarumma, Dias, Cherki, Guéhi, Rodri, Bernardo, Ait-Nouri, Semenyo, Foden
Viewing options for Newcastle v Manchester City: Television broadcasts and digital platforms
The match commences on Saturday at 20:00 (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Direct television broadcast within the UK can be found on TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and the Discovery Plus app.
TNT Sports is priced at £29.99 monthly via Discovery Plus, encompassing Eurosport and various entertainment content, and is accessible across a wide array of gadgets such as smart TVs and gaming consoles.
Key statistics concerning Newcastle v Manchester City
- City might emerge as only the third club to knock out Newcastle from both the EFL Cup and FA Cup within a single campaign, following Wimbledon in 1987-88 and Arsenal in 2007-08
- Nevertheless, the Magpies have advanced beyond nine of their last 10 FA Cup Fifth Round fixtures, with two of those victories occurring against City in 1994-95 and 2001-02
- The squad under Guardiola’s leadership has emerged victorious in 18 of their last 20 matches in the FA Cup over the past four campaigns, with their only defeats occurring in the finals in 2024 against Man Utd and 2025 against Crystal Palace
- Newcastle have previously overcome two Premier League teams, Bournemouth and Aston Villa, to advance to this point in the tournament
- City, in contrast, have enjoyed comparatively straightforward fixtures against teams from lower divisions: Exeter City and Salford City.