Pep Guardiola's swashbucklers have been the bane of Mikel Arteta and Arsenal's lives over the past few seasons, and this will be the first time that the Cityzens can put some real pressure on the Gunners, who would then have to perform on Sunday in the North London derby against Tottenham.
Haaland is one goal away from Shearer's record
Key to any victory for the visitors will be Erling Haaland, who already has 14 goals in this Premier League campaign and 19 for his club in all competitions.
He's just one goal away from smashing Alan Shearer's record of being the quickest player to 100 EPL goals, and he's only failed to score in two league matches so far in 2025/26, against Aston Villa and Spurs.
Shearer's record, which has stood for decades, saw him reach the century in 124 English top-flight games; however, if Haaland gets one on Saturday, he will have set a new mark of just 109 games.
It would be somewhat cruel should the Norwegian net, given that the new record would have been reached at Shearer's 'home,' but such is the way football and fate meet sometimes.
It's an incredible run of goalscoring form, which has also extended to the national team, for whom he scored again recently against Italy.
12 away wins on Tyneside
Not to mention that both Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden are also playing themselves into decent form lately, so if Newcastle ignore those other areas of the pitch, they could find themselves pulled from pillar to post with relative ease.
The hosts could certainly do without facing City right now in any event, as they are the team with 12 away wins on Tyneside, their joint-most away victories against one opponent in the Premier League.
Furthermore, since losing two of their opening three matches this season, Guardiola's men have gone on to lose just one of their last eight in the league, and have conceded just four goals in that time.
Eddie Howe has never beaten City in 18 top-flight games either (L16, D2), which is the most matches in which a manager has faced a single opponent without winning.
One City loss in 35 meetings
As if to add even more insult to injury, City have scored in their last 33 matches against Newcastle and have won 28 and drawn six of their last 35 Premier League meetings with them, losing just once.
The Magpies, who are coming off two straight defeats and are struggling down in 14th place in the table, are just two points above the relegation places.
Their form mirrors the last time they had Champions League commitments to contend with alongside league and cup games, and suggests a lack of depth to the squad.
They have kept five clean sheets so far this season, the second most behind Arsenal's seven, so a defensively-minded performance might be the order of the day, if only to stem the tide and frustrate a City side who will doubtless still enjoy the lion's share of possession on the day.
Defensive display from Newcastle?
Whilst such a display is anathema to all Howe holds dear, his side is struggling for goals, and this definitely isn't the game to be gung-ho.
Indeed, only Wolves, Leeds and Nottingham Forest have scored fewer than Newcastle's 11 goals this season, and that's due in no small part to Anthony Gordon's poor form, Yoane Wissa's ongoing injury struggles and the lack of support in an attacking sense from the midfield.
Thank God then for the Magpies' own target man, Nick Woltemade, whose four league goals so far in 25/26 see him level with Liverpool's Mo Salah, Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres, Chelsea's Joao Pedro and others.
If the hosts want to get anything out of Saturday's encounter, they'll need the German to be at his best once again, and if any further motivation were needed, should Fulham, Leeds, Burnley and West Ham all win and Newcastle lose, they will plummet into the bottom three by the end of the weekend.
That won't have been in the script for the new owners, and it highlights just what a predicament the club find themselves in at the moment.
Late fitness tests
Given that it's been almost two years since Newcastle last lost three league games in a row, never will there have been a better time for the first-team squad to bag three points and pull themselves out of their tailspin.
Rodri and Mateo Kovacic remain sidelined for the visitors, whilst Wissa, William Osula and Harrison Ashby are definitely out for the hosts, and Dan Burn is suspended.
Gordon, Joelinton, Nick Pope and Tino Livramento all face late fitness tests to determine whether they'll be able to play any part or not.
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