Pep Guardiola glad that Manchester City are back to winning ways

The message was loud and clear.

Pep Guardiola has challenged his Manchester City stars to use their dramatic 4-3 defeat at Liverpool as a warning to guard against complacency.

However, Aguero sealed the win and his hat-trick in the 83rd minute with a sweeping finish from 12-yards out after some superb work by Leroy Sane.

At St James’ Park, Guardiola claimed it is particularly hard “when the other team doesn’t want to play”, and while every manager reserves the right to set up and play how they want, the script was the same.

“Pep Guardiola’s face Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium nearly a month after an uneventful 1-0 at St James” Park.

Aguero had also run amok in those two fixtures.

“I read Newcastle dropped a 12-point advantage years ago and United won the league”.

With all that in mind, there are three bets which can be made for this game.

And, for 34 minutes, they kept Pep Guardiola’s team at bay. “I think the gap is bigger now”. The Terriers have enjoyed a respectable return to the top flight so far, sitting 14th at the moment, but they are without a win in their last five. In 16 matches, Mata has three goals and three assists, though his value is through more than the point output.

Aguero got the faintest of touches to a left-wing cross from Kevin De Bruyne with his head.

The Argentine has 13 goals in the Premier League this season, with this number being second to only Raheem Sterling.

Sterling went on a run down the left and looked to take the ball to the byline before going down under contact from Javier Manquillo. Despite not being a guaranteed starter, Aguero has still banged in 19 goals this term.

A quick free kick from Jonjo Shelvey in the opening minutes allowed Christian Atsu to cross into the danger area, but Ciaran Clarke’s shot was hit into the turf and looped safely into the hands of Ederson.

And when Joselu did manage to get hold of the ball his ability on it let him down, completing just 33% of his passes and failing to have a shot on goal.

Oleksandr Zinchenko has warned his Manchester City team-mates that their EFL Cup semi-final opponents Bristol City are more than capable of beating them. The second bet is both teams not to score.

While Newcastle have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks and almost secured a point against City in their previous encounter, it is unlikely that they will be able to stop a City side who will be desperate to get back to winnings ways. For Magpies boss Rafael Benitez, one can only predict a bleak short-term future with his side still teetering close to the relegation zone and the apparent collapse of a takeover leaving major questions over his ability to buy his way out of trouble. Players like Sterling and Jesus need to be surrounded by exceptional quality, and if City do enter a sticky spell, you wonder if these young stars can handle the pressure.