Man City vs Newcastle United - Mon 19th Aug 20:00pm

A new season is here along with a new manager, first up for us, Newcastle United.

Newcastle should prove to be a decent test for our opening game, they have some good players that are capable of causing us plenty of trouble, I can only see one outcome though and that's three points for City.

I don't want to disrespect Newcastle or any other team we play these days but these games are our bread and butter now and we should be winning them, especially at home. To be honest I very rarely worry about any team we play anymore and as cocky as that sounds, it is not meant to. I don't think its wrong of me to expect that we win this game tonight, the quality of playing staff that we possess are of the highest standard possible and yes for all non City fans the money has made this so, but that is just the way it is.

We still have to be careful against Newcastle tonight don't get me wrong, they have some dangerous players that are capable of punishing us if given the chance.

The player who gets all the press at Newcastle is Cabaye and as good as he is, he is not the Newcastle player that worries me the most, the one to watch for me is Moussa Sissoko. I knew of Sissoko when he was playing in France and I always thought he was decent, but the way he finished the season with Newcastle after only signing in January impressed me. He adapted very quickly and has a little bit of everything to his game, he is capable of causing danger via all areas of the pitch. Yaya had him in his pocket when he came to the Etihad last season and I think he will have to do the same again this time around to stop him.

Now to City, with four new players signed this summer how many will start tonight? I would say two with Navas and Fernandinho  likely to start, leaving Negredo and Jovetic on the bench, unless Aguero isn't risked of course. I personally would like to see Negredo start the game, he has really impressed me in pre season. His touch is second to none as is his sheer bullishness when going at defenders, granted he should of put more goals away in pre season but that will come, I have no doubt about that. Saying that unless you play with three forwards that would mean dropping Dzeko, but it is probably about time for Dzeko to get his chance at City once and for all. He had a good pre season and if he can bring that form into the new season, it may finally help him to cement a place in the starting line up.

Man City Team News:
Nastasic (ankle) will be missing for the opening game, while Sergio Aguero could making his comeback to the team after suffering from a knee injury throughout the pre season programme.

Newcastle United Team News:
New loan signing Loic Remy misses out with a calf problem and Jonas Gutierrez is expected to have a fitness test after suffering from a hamstring injury.

Possible Man City Line Up: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Silva, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Aguero, Dzeko.

Possible Newcastle United Line Up: Krul, Debuchy, Coloccini, S Taylor, Santon, Ben Arfa, Tioté, Cabaye, Gutiérrez, Sissoko, Cissé.

My Prediction: Man City 4 - 0 Newcastle United.

Worth A Bet: Fernandinho scores first goal in a 4-0 City win @ 100/1.