Having already covered the Blank Gameweek 31/34 permutations from Manchester City’s FA Cup fifth-round win over Newcastle United, now we look at the other Fantasy talking points from St James’ Park.
RESULT
| Home | Away | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | Manchester City | 1-3 | Barnes | Savinho, Marmoush x2 | Tonali | Doku, Nunes x2 |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| TEAM | CHANGES FROM GAMEWEEK 29 | PLAYERS WHO KEPT THEIR PLACES (+ MINS) | OTHER NOTABLE PLAYERS (+ MINS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle United | 4 | Ramsdale (90), Thiaw (90), Tonali (90), Barnes (90), Hall (80), Trippier (63), Elanga (62) | Botman (90), Willock (90), Woltemade (72), Osula (63), Joelinton (28), Wissa (27), Burn (27), Gordon (18), Livramento (10) |
| Manchester City | 10 | Nunes (90) | Trafford (90), Khusanov (90), Stones (90), Ake (90), Gonzalez (90), Reijnders (90), O’Reilly (90), Savinho (79), Doku (79), Marmoush (73), Semenyo (17), Foden (11), Cherki (11) |
WHY HAALAND MISSED OUT
While nine of the 10 players Pep Guardiola rotated out of the side were on the bench at St James’ Park, Erling Haaland (£14.6m) was absent entirely.
There are no injury concerns, though, it seems.
“I was not planning to play [him]. I would prefer to make good training sessions than be on the bench, travel or play just 10-15 minutes.” – Pep Guardiola on why Erling Haaland missed out
O’REILLY BACK FROM INJURY
Making a swift return from injury, meanwhile, was Nico O’Reilly (£5.1m). There are no lingering worries with him, as he got through a full 90 minutes on Tyneside.
Again stationed ‘out of position’ in midfield, he had another two great chances to score. Firstly, he dithered when being presented with the ball when Aaron Ramsdale (£4.8m) had gone walkabout. And secondly, he somehow failed to make contact with the low cross that Matheus Nunes (£5.4m) supplied for City’s second goal, which was eventually turned in by Omar Marmoush (£8.3m).
In terms of both fitness and ongoing goal threat, this was an encouraging comeback for O’Reilly owners.
PEP ON ROTATION
City enjoyed the luxury of two midweeks off in February but we’re back to the fixture crush now. They could, feasibly, be playing every weekend and midweek between now and the end of 2025/26 (ignoring the international break).
You do wonder what Guardiola has in store for us in Gameweek 30, given that a double-header against Real Madrid falls either side of it. The EFL Cup final is coming up in two weeks’ time, too.
“When we play all competitions and we have [games every] three days, four days, and we have the squad, the joy of players that I have, we have to do it. The risk [is that] we lose and go home… but everybody has to play because [of] the fatigue [from the] last game and after, we go to Madrid. After that, we come and go to West Ham. Everybody has to be involved and hopefully, we can continue to behave in that way.” – Pep Guardiola on making 10 changes at Newcastle
MARMOUSH’S FAVOURITE OPPONENTS?
While Arsenal’s reserves did little to impress at Mansfield, City’s second string did a whole lot better. Guardiola, indeed, called this the “best game” his side has played against Newcastle in his time at the club.
While that’s perhaps hyperbolic, they were certainly in complete control from half an hour in.
Savinho (£6.9m) was impressive on the right, even if he knew little about his opener. Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) supplied the assist for that from the opposite flank.
Marmoush, meanwhile, did what he did best: score against Newcastle. A remarkable 50% of his goals for City have come against the Magpies.
Nunes claimed the assists for both of the Egyptian’s strikes but the second goal was all about Marmoush, who unleashed a stunner from the edge of the box.
“He has to improve a little bit in the smaller spaces and a little bit the first control. But yeah, he made a fantastic game. He deserves it. I’m so happy for him.” – Pep Guardiola on Omar Marmoush
There should have been other/further goals, too. Tijjani Reijnders (£5.0m) was the main culprit, wasting a handful of big chances. He had a game-high eight shots in all, playing as the most advanced of City’s central midfield three.
NEWCASTLE – FROM BUSIEST CLUB IN 2026 TO CONCENTRATING ON THE LEAGUE?
So, then, Newcastle are now out of both domestic cups thanks to City. If the UEFA Champions League last 16 goes the way the bookies think (they give the Magpies around a 30% chance of progressing), they’ll also be out of Europe by Gameweek 31.
From statistically the busiest Premier League team of 2026, with no midweeks off, to potentially just competing on one front.
That could rekindle Fantasy interest in the Magpies for the run-in, especially as their schedule (Gameweek 34 aside) is fairly kind:
The accumulated fatigue may have played a part on Saturday. Eddie Howe, indeed, said his side “maybe ran out of gas“.
Newcastle had started with their traditional intensity, bossing the opening half an hour. Five of their six shots in the box came in the first 20 minutes, indeed. One of those was Harvey Barnes‘ (£6.1m) opener.
Thereafter, though, they barely got a sniff.
LIVRAMENTO RETURNS, GORDON PROTECTED
There were some positives for Newcastle, chiefly the return of Tino Livramento (£4.9m) from a medium-term lay-off. Eased in with a sub appearance here, he’ll have designs on Kieran Trippier‘s (£4.9m) place in the run-in.
“He’s huge. We’ve really missed him. His versatility, his athleticism. He’s a massive player for us, so great to have him back and [get] some valuable minutes. He hasn’t done a lot of training, so we needed to protect him today.” – Eddie Howe on Tino Livramento
Anthony Gordon‘s (£7.2m) owners in UCL Fantasy wouldn’t have been disappointed to see him benched here, either. While Howe hinted at an ankle problem, Gordon was still fit enough to come on as a substitute. You’d expect him to start up front against Barcelona in midweek, with Will Osula (£5.4m) the latest forward to flunk his audition.
Howe explained that there were a couple of other fitness issues behind his selection.
“I couldn’t use Jacob Murphy today because of a neck problem, which he suffered yesterday.
“Anthony Gordon’s coming in with an ankle problem, we had to protect him today.
“We had to protect Joelinton today, with past experience.” – Eddie Howe
One of the others who has yet to convince up top, Nick Woltemade (£6.7m), was again in midfield, but there are diminishing returns from that once-promising tactical experiment.
