MANCHESTER CITY may have lost their title but they remain odds-on favourites to keep hold of the FA Cup and should have too much class for Newcastle.
Thursday's 2-1 loss to Chelsea officially ended City's reign as Premier League kings as Liverpool celebrated their first championship triumph in 30 years.
This can still be a memorable season for Pep Guardiola's side though as they remain on course for a treble of League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League glory.
Ruling Europe's is the No.1 priority for Guardiola (below) but the bookies still can't see past another FA Cup triumph for City, who are a best 17/20 with Betway to lift the trophy.
Newcastle stand in their way in the last eight and St James' Park hasn't been a happy hunting ground of late, with Guardiola's side drawing and losing on their last two visits.
But the Toon Army are like a 12th man for the Magpies and with no fans inside the stadium for this clash it should come down to who has the better players and that's unquestionably City.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce can at least take heart from his side's form since coming out of lockdown, taking four points from home games with Sheffield United and Aston Villa.
How the bookies view it
Newcastle are 14/1 with William Hill for a win, quite incredible odds for a home team in an FA Cup quarter-final between two Premier League sides. The odds would most certainly have been shorter had this match been played in front of a packed St James'.
Even the draw is as big as 15/2 with Betfair while City's best price is 3/14 with VBet. There's zero value in that so try a City win with both teams to score at 9/5 with Coral given Guardiola's defence looked vulnerable against Chelsea in midweek.
Recent head to head
It ended in a 2-2 draw when Manchester City faced Newcastle at St James' Park in the league earlier this season (below) while Guardiola's side crashed to a shock 1-0 loss on Tyneside last term.
But City won five of the six games before that, including 5-0 and 6-1 thrashings, so it's perhaps easy to see why the bookies make them heavy favourites.
Players to watch
Raheem Sterling scored on his last visit to St James' and was only denied by the post in midweek against Chelsea. The City livewire is 57/50 with 888Sport for a goal here and that's pretty good value.
Allan Saint-Maximin delivered at 6/1 when I tipped him to score against Sheffield United and has the pace to ask questions of Guardiola's suspect defence. The French forward is a slightly bigger price here at 17/2 with 888Sport and that's a good long-odds option.
Anything else catch the eye?
We were treated to a couple of long-range crackers on City's last visit, with Kevin De Bruyne and Jonjo Shelvey scoring stunning goals. A strike from outside the area in this clash pays 23/20 with William Hill.
De Bruyne grabbed City's goal in midweek but is more renowned for his assists and is 23/20 with Ladbrokes to add another to his tally.
This FA Cup match between Newcastle United and Manchester City will be played on Jun 28, 2020 and kick off at 18:30. Check below for our tipsters best Newcastle United vs Manchester City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
