Two of the title contenders from last season will clash with one another this weekend in the Premier League for the late kick off on Saturday as Manchester City heads back to Newcastle United for the second time this season.
In contrast to the last campaign, these two sides are sitting in completely different areas of the Premier League. City are currently in third and behind Aston Villa and Liverpool in the title race, meaning this is as low in the table as they have been in the new year since 2017.
Nevertheless, despite the gap, the difference in points is a mere five on the Reds at the top of the table with Pep Guardiola's men also having a game in hand to play over Liverpool and Villa.
City are also on a five-game winning run after a 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace, as they went on to win both their Club World Cup fixtures over Urawa Reds and Fluminense by letting in no goals and scoring a total of seven en route to becoming world champions.
The Premier League champions matched these wins with a 3-1 victory at Goodison Park over Everton before beating last-placed Sheffield United at home. City also kicked off their FA Cup title defence with a 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town that saw Julian Alvarez back amongst the goals, as Jeremy Doku scored again after a Phil Foden brace.
Things, however, have been quite different for Newcastle this season with them out of the EFL Cup at the quarter-finals stage, out of the Champions League by finishing last and with six Premier League losses all happening since the start of December. The Magpies have suffered three consecutive losses in the league, as Luton Town, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool have all managed to beat them before returning to the win column over their North East rivals Sunderland.
Newcastle's win over the Black Cats was the first over them in 12 years in what was the first Tyne and Wear derby since 2017. A comfortable 3-0 victory over Sunderland in the FA Cup saw Alexander Isak bag two goals after an own goal.
Although City are the favourites in this game, Eddie Howe's men have already beaten City at home this season. A 1-0 win at St. James' Park in the EFL Cup round of 16 saw Guardiola's men crash out of the cup at their earliest ever time under the Spanaird, as Isak got yet another goal.