Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes to start - Our predicted XI as Newcastle face Man City

Manchester City head to St James' Park to take on Newcastle United in the early kick-off on Saturday live on TNT Sports - Kick-off is at 12:30pm.

Eddie Howe has some huge calls to make for his team selection to take on Man City with Alexander Isak a doubt after suffering a broken toe. The Swedish striker did play last week against Fulham but he was not in the game at all, so Howe has to decide whether to risk him in this game or let him rest.

Getting the balance in defence is going to be a big task, however. Does Howe go with youthful exuberance or older heads at fullback?

We've put together a prediction for starting XI but confidence isn't high that we'll be anywhere near right with this one.

Goalkeeper

Nick Pope - Made some huge saves to make up for his horrendous error for Fulham's second goal last week. Still our Number 1 by far!

Defence

Tino Livramento - Having the old head of Kieran Trippier would make just as much sense but we've gone with Tino for his pace above all else.

Fabian Schar - Centre-backs pretty much pick themselves these days not that we wouldn't pick Fabi anyway.

Dan Burn - A bit of height to go up against Goldilocks the Cyborg is definitely required but on the ground, Erling Haaland could cause Burn big problems.

Lloyd Kelly - We need a full-back who can defend for this game so Kelly gets the nod over Lewis Hall who we feel is more suited to games we can dominate possession and attack.

Midfield

Sandro Tonali - We're going up against the best so we need the best in the middle of the park. Tonali's calmness on the ball will be vital.

Bruno Guimaraes (c) - Bruno is still feeling his way into this season but we're sure he can turn it on for the big games and build from there.

Joelinton - We argued that dropping Joelinton was the way to go but for games when possession is going to be minimal, we need him. This is the type of game we need him to go full beast mode.

Forwards

Jacob Murphy - Murph hasn't been great but we still feel he'll get the nod over Miguel Almiron in a makeshift front three.

Anthony Gordon - We hope we're wrong with this front three and Alexander Isak does play, but just going off Eddie Howe's comments on Friday morning we're going with Gordon through the middle and Isak on the bench.

Harvey Barnes - Barnes feels like the only player to come out with any credibility so far this season and should start regardless of whether Alexander Isak is selected.

We'd ideally like to see Gordon running up against Kyle Walker purely for his pace, but we're sure that Barnes could cause him a problem or two.

Again, we reckon Eddie Howe will start Isak and that he's just playing games with the media, but just in case we've gone with Gordon as striker. We doubt Howe would unleash Will Osula in such a big game.

Whatever the XI, we just want a full-blooded team performance.