In-form Newcastle United stand in the way of Manchester City placing one hand on the Premier League trophy as Roberto Mancini's table-topping side travel to St James' Park.

City's positivity paid off on Monday night as they edged their Manchester derby against a tactically negative United side, thanks to Vincent Kompany's header in first-half injury time. "Newcastle will be our hardest game - harder than United," said Mancini in the aftermath.

Their scalp of United sees City at the summit of the division courtesy of an eight-goal stronger difference, with this match against Newcastle and a home meeting with relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers to play. The Red Devils have Swansea at home before travelling to Sunderland on the final day.

Mancini maintains that United are still favourites for the league's crown, with the Italian coach wary of the threat Newcastle pose. Indeed, the Magpies have won seven of their last eight matches, the last of those victories coming at Chelsea during midweek.

That victory put Alan Pardew's team back on track, having previously been stunned 4-0 by Wigan, and they remain elbow to elbow in the race for a top-four finish, with the team level on points with Tottenham and a single point behind Arsenal.

Pardew hailed the scalp of Chelsea as his "result of the season", but focus swiftly turns to the force of City, who triumphed 3-1 in the teams' reverse fixture earlier this season. With the game to be played out before the Red Devils' meeting with Swansea, City will be conscious a triumph could deal a knockout blow in the battle for the title.

Newcastle player to watch: Papiss Cisse. It has to be. This man, signed from Freiburg for £9 million in January, took his goalscoring tally for the Magpies to 13 in 14 matches with two staggering strikes at Stamford Bridge: The first a devastatingly instinctive finish which whistled past Petr Cech and the second an ingenious, swinging effort that left the Blues keeper clawing at air and the spectators questioning the laws of gravity. With Cisse spearheading Newcastle's frontline, and Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa occupying the wider positions, City's backline will be in for a more gruelling test than that of Monday.

Man City player to watch: Carlos Tevez. The Argentine was somewhat subdued in the Manchester derby, but there is a feeling he still has a further part to play in this title race. Having scored four times since his return, Tevez has made noises about how he now wishes to remain at Eastlands. Asked about the possibility of Tevez staying, Mancini said: "Why not? He has a contract. And he is a good player. But, for now, our concentration should be on the game at Newcastle on Sunday." Indeed, even Tevez is not bigger than this forthcoming crunch match.

Key battle: Cheick Tiote v Yaya Toure. Two powerhouses of the game, this promises to be quite the clash. The former's participation was threatened after he was stretchered off following a collision with Chelsea's John Obi Mikel, but Pardew confirmed after the game that Tiote should be fine for this weekend. Toure, meanwhile, reaffirmed his status as one of the top central midfielders in football today with another bossing of the middle of the park against United. His penetrating runs are a vital cog in how City play, and it will be Tiote's job to halt the juggernaut.

Trivia: City's last taste of silverware prior to 2011's FA Cup win came against Newcastle in the League Cup in 1976, the winner scored by Newcastle-born Dennis Tueart.

Stats: Papiss Demba Cisse has scored 13 goals in his 12 Premier League appearances, the joint-best start to a player's Premier League career.

Match

my fear is the possibilities of winning an in-form newcastle and a wounded howard webb. the God of chelsea will surely see man city through and the injustice of fa, epl officals will come back to hunt the league.
man u without howard webb this season would have struggled to make the top 4 but in epl, man u gets like 15 free points for their contacts.
no wonder man u can't stand the likes of fc basel and atletico bilbao.
can you imagine a chelsea seeing of a napoli, benfica and barca of all nations yet the evils of epl cannot let them grow.
in the presence of all odds, the God of soccer has compensated chelsea with fa cup and a second place in uefa cl fighting to grab the first.

^^^^^^^^^
And you wonder why the black man is trapped mentally and spiritually?

Free your mind, you fool, it's just entertainment..

City all the way. Newcastle must go down. What will Newcastle going to do in Champions league

the enemy of progress is at it again, but don't worry very soon akodo ga asu ike nsi

see as you are talking as if chelsea were saint through out the whole season. You can say whatever you like about Man United for loosing to fc basel and atletico bilbao and chelsea beating napoli, benfica and barca to reach d uefa champ. final but can you change the fact that you are struggling to be in the top four in d same league where the Man utd comes second with d same points with d leader. the last time i checked, Totenham and Newcastle were above you with 4 points each so d point dat Man Utd lost to some particular teams dis season is just a childish excuse.

Chelsea were lucky to defeat Wigan at stamford brigde with d help of the referee and dat same Wigan defeated Man U and Arsenal but you quick to remember the assistant Man United got from referee and forgot the ones Chelsea got. My brother football will always be football so let`s put sentiment aside and enjoy the game.

1025: my fear is the possibilities of winning an in-form newcastle and a wounded howard webb. the God of chelsea will surely see man city through and the injustice of fa, epl officals will come back to hunt the league.
man u without howard webb this season would have struggled to make the top 4 but in epl, man u gets like 15 free points for their contacts.
no wonder man u can't stand the likes of fc basel and atletico bilbao.
can you imagine a chelsea seeing of a napoli, benfica and barca of all nations yet the evils of epl cannot let them grow.
in the presence of all odds, the God of soccer has compensated chelsea with fa cup and a second place in uefa cl fighting to grab the first.

see as you are talking as if chelsea were saint through out the whole season. You can say whatever you like about Man United for loosing to fc basel and atletico bilbao and chelsea beating napoli, benfica and barca to reach d uefa champ. final but can you change the fact that you are struggling to be in the top four in d same league where the Man utd comes second with d same points with d leader. the last time i checked, Totenham and Newcastle were above you with 4 points each so d point dat Man Utd lost to some particular teams dis season is just a childish excuse.

Chelsea were lucky to defeat Wigan at stamford brigde with d help of the referee and dat same Wigan defeated Man U and Arsenal but you quick to remember the assistant Man United got from referee and forgot the ones Chelsea got. My brother football will always be football so let`s put sentiment aside and enjoy the game.

chelseabmw: mancity win this match for me,pls


i believe city we win 3-0

Things don't always work out the way u want them to be.

1025: my fear is the possibilities of winning an in-form newcastle and a wounded howard webb. the God of chelsea will surely see man city through and the injustice of fa, epl officals will come back to hunt the league.
man u without howard webb this season would have struggled to make the top 4 but in epl, man u gets like 15 free points for their contacts.
no wonder man u can't stand the likes of fc basel and atletico bilbao.
can you imagine a chelsea seeing of a napoli, benfica and barca of all nations yet the evils of epl cannot let them grow.
in the presence of all odds, the God of soccer has compensated chelsea with fa cup and a second place in uefa cl fighting to grab the first.

abeg shut up . Mumu chelshit fan , u guys robd liverpool y/day, u di..ck a...ss hole..nd ur here sayin dy robd chelsea. Mstchew

frankmoney: abeg shut up . Mumu chelshit fan , u guys robd liverpool y/day, u di..ck a...ss hole..nd ur here sayin dy robd chelsea. Mstchew

Chai too harsh bro. take it easy with the boy

DELILAH will be song at the end of the match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlzEPcZO6aA

omo newcastle wan die for here o , see blockings

Where muki? game on..

mkmyers45: Where muki? game on..

u ?''''

fredoooooo: omo newcastle wan die for here o , see blockings

E just start

Cisse i trust u,do sometin oo o

mkmyers45: E just start

up milan down juvee today , i don bribe buffon again

fredoooooo:

u ?''''

wetin? where she dey? Abi she dey :O ?

fredoooooo:

up milan down juvee today , i don bribe buffon again

Badi Belle U go vex tire today

mkmyers45: wetin? where she dey? Abi she dey :O ?

wetin be ur own , face front jo .......

I don't think Cisse can make any impact, Company is on his case.

mkmyers45: Badi Belle U go vex tire today

we go see later , cagliari go do magic