Injury crisis and Alvarez vs Foden – five things to look out for in Man City vs Newcastle

The talking points as Manchester City face Newcastle in the Premier League without a number of key players.

City may have to accelerate Gvardiol plan

Just on Tuesday, Pep Guardiola said Josko Gvardiol needed more time before being thrown into Manchester City’s defence, citing the young Croatian’s lack of training sessions to getused to his new team-mates. However, Gvardiol was in the starting XI of the Supercupon Wednesday and could make his full Premier League debut against Newcastle.

With John Stones out, theelusive Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte signed from Al Nassr, City’s defense options are limited. Guardiola again hinted on Friday that he would rather give Gvardiol more time on the training ground, but the need for a strong defense may outweigh that desire. The manager admitted City are grappling with Gvardiol’s mistakes against Sevilla so patience could be key this weekend should he play again.

And Guardiola himself admitted in Greece that he was unaware of the role of left-back he played against Sevilla. “As long as I’m on the pitch I’m happy and it doesn’t matter what position I play,” he said. “I will do my best and try to domybest. I was in thispositiontoday. I was happy with my performance, but I can do better. I’ll definitely need time to remember [toplayat left-back] and time on the pitch.

Could get that time against Newcastle although Guardiola would rather wait.

Alvarez to return after Foden experiment falters?

Phil Foden started in Kevin De Bruyne’s role against Sevilla but didn’t quite match the Belgian’s influence behind Erling Haaland. Pep Guardiola suggested that Julian Alvarez would have started, but picked up a late niggle that prevented him from playing more than 15-20 minutes. “Otherwise he would have played,” said Guardiola.

That suggests, if fit, Alvarez will come in behind Haaland to restore a bit of balance to the side. Foden could move out wide but that would mean dropping Cole Palmer after his Man of the Match display in the Super Cup. Guardiola was asked again on Friday if this is the time for Foden to really make that number ten spot his own, and again the manager urged Foden to improve and wouldn’t offer his full backing to playing the 23-year-old in midfield permanently. For whatever reason, Guardiola isn’t ready to trust Foden in midfield completely.

With De Bruyne out for up to six months, there is a gap for someone to make that attacking midfield role their own. Guardiola referenced Foden along with Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic, and James McAtee as options, while Foden, Bernardo and Cole Palmer could also play on the wing. Whoever gets the nod against Newcastle could be a sign of things to come until De Bruyne is back.

Worst possible fixture for City

After lifting the Super Cup in the sweltering heat in the early hours of Thursday morning, City returned to action on Saturday night – a quick turnaround that angered Pep Guardiola.

Barring an unsuccessful start on Saturday at 8pm, Guardiola will be annoyed with Newcastle visiting the Etihad today after beating Aston Villa 5-1 on opening day. Newcastle drew 3-3 with City this time last season and it was better than last season’s 2-0 defeat at the Etihad suggested.

Guardiola knows the threat they pose and regularly lists them as title contenders. After adding Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and others to his Champions League squad, Guardiola is aware of the difficulty of picking up three points on Saturday.

Guardiola has also mentioned Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes as hard-to-stop players in the past. So when a sovereign away team plays against a tired city team, it’s safe to assume that they are one of the worst opponents that can exist in this game season weekend.

City united with Newcastle

With just 68 hours between the end of the Super Cup in Athens and kick-off against Newcastle, Pep Guardiola has made clear his annoyance at the scheduling of tonight’s clash with Newcastle, sarcastically thanking the Premier League for insisting the game be played on Saturday. With TNT Sports selecting the fixture, the only accomodation made was to move the game from it’s usual lunchtime kick-off to an equally-problematic 8pm game. City get six more hours to rest, but it’s hardly much of a concession.

City fans boycotted the Community Shield over complaints around the scheduling of fixtures, and they will have sympathy with the Newcastle fans asked to return up North after the game finishes at 10pm. The last train from Manchester to Newcastle leaves Victoria at 9.32pm. As City fans got support from across the football world for their Community Shield stance, they will stand with their Newcastle counterparts at the ridiculousness of this game being played at 8pm on a Saturday.

Guardiola has reason to be unhappy with the game being played on Saturday at all, with the supporters set to be united in their opposition to the kick-off time as well. In what should be a tantalising contest between two top sides, the focus is likely to be shifted somewhat by another logic-defying scheduling decision by the authorities.

Well aware of hisside’s scheduling issues and injury crisis, Guardiola used the pre-match press conference to urgecurrent City fans to stay behind and help them cross the finish line when players struggle. While Saturday’s game will be a celebration of the three trophies City have won since their last appearance at the Etihad – winning the Premier League – Guardiola was keen to ensure fans contribute to a new safe journey home campaign.

“We need our people more than ever this season,” he said. “Wecan’t be at Etihad just because we see how good we areat what we’ve done. We need it tomorrow.”Please stay with us, we are not living in the best oftimes. Stay there in difficult times. We need your support. “Thisis the first time we’ve been together since the FA Cup final against [Manchester] United and the Champions League final against Inter Milan.” In the right way, but Guardiola wants the feel-good vibe to channel becomes to help his underdog against Newcastle. City fans reinforced last season and made Etihad a fortress and that will be needed from the first home game of this season.