Newcastle take on the visitors Manchester City in the first leg of EFL Cup semifinals. The match will be played on Tuesday, January 13th at St. James' Park (Newcastle).
Newcastle are inevitably compared to their own 2024/2025 version. Back then they not only won their first trophy in a long time, the League Cup, but also finished fifth in the Premier League, edging Aston Villa on tiebreakers. After returning to the Champions League, they managed to collect a solid number of wins there as well. In the current tournament, they have already knocked out Tottenham and Fulham to reach the semifinals. They have now started another cup campaign, where they edged past Bournemouth on penalties after a 3-3 draw. At the same time, there was a clear slump in the Premier League, which pushed the team down into the lower half of the table. However, after a series of victories, including against Leeds, they climbed back into the top third and returned to the fight for European places. Recent league results show that Newcastle are gradually restoring confidence after a difficult stretch. Their home form in particular has improved, making them far more competitive against top-level opposition.
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Manchester City can fight for trophies, but it is unclear how motivated they are here. The Citizens looked dominant under Guardiola and even won the Champions League, completing a treble and establishing supremacy in English football. Then came the collapse of last season. In the Premier League, after winter reinforcements, they eventually climbed to third place, but elsewhere suffered defeats, including in a cup final. Not everything worked smoothly afterward either, but they finished 2025 as Arsenal’s main chasers, cutting the gap to just two points. January, however, started with a goalless draw against Sunderland. Points were also dropped against Chelsea, who had just dismissed Maresca, and against Brighton, with both matches ending 1-1. Only in the cup, against modest Exeter, did they fully express themselves, recording a confident 10-1 win. City’s recent run suggests a lack of consistency in domestic competition. While they remain dangerous going forward, frequent draws have slowed their momentum in important league fixtures.
In the last three head-to-head matches, each team has one home win, with one draw between them. The visitors are trusted more overall, but they have not been fully convincing lately. Expect a fairly entertaining encounter here, so the bet is on a total of over 2.5 goals.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
