Manchester City have worst fears confirmed ahead of Saturday's clash with Newcastle United

Premier League champions Manchester City come to St James' Park for the early 12:30pm kick-off on Saturday live on TNT Sport.

Man City looked way off their best last time out against Arsenal, struggling to a 2-2 draw against 10 men.

Part of that seemed to be down to losing Rodri after just 21 minutes to a bad-looking knee injury which seemed to disrupt how City were playing.

Without Rodri or Kevin De Bruyne things didn't flow as well as you'd expect from a Pep Guardiola side but John Stones managed to steal a draw with the last move of the game deep in stoppage time at the end of the game.

It has been confirmed that Rodri has done his ACL

Since that game all the focus has been on Rodri's injury and how bad it is. It was always pretty much a given that the Spain international would not be fit for Saturday's clash with Newcastle, however, it was a case of how long would the Ballon d'Or nominee be out of action?

All signs pointed towards an ACL injury which, as Newcastle fans know all too well having Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles out with the same thing, is not an overnight fix.

Fabrizio Romano has this morning confirmed that it is indeed an ACL injury that Rodri sustained he's travelled to Spain to see a specialist.

There's never been a better time to take on Man City

Kevin De Bruyne also remains a doubt for Saturday's game and, as bad as it is to revel in the pain of others, this gives Newcastle the best chance in a while to get something at the expense of the Champions.

Without their two driving forces in midfield, Newcastle need to take full advantage on Saturday. Obviously, they still have plenty of talent in the side and it's not going to be a walk in the park, but there has to be a boost in confidence that comes from knowing that these two monsters of the game are missing.

The boost that a win over City would give to the club and the fans this weekend would be huge. A decent performance alongside it and the whole narrative around this season would flip.