Champions City can relax and run riot on the Tyne

Thanks to Leicester City's triumph over Manchester United on Tuesday evening, City are once again Premier League champions, wrestling the title back from Liverpool. Three matches remain in the domestic campaign, starting at St. James' Park on Friday night. Newcastle United sprung a surprise against the Foxes last time out, racing into a 4-0 lead before being pegged back twice late on. Steve Bruce's charges secured their top flight status in the days since because of other results, and both they and their opponents can afford to relax a little now. That promises goals. Read our preview here:

Joseph's black and white dreamcoat

One of the key players behind the Toon Army's recent uptick in form has been Arsenal loanee Joseph Willock. Utilised either from the bench to roam forwards from midfield, or as the one in the five with the greatest onus to support the front two, he has plundered five goals from just eight starts in the famous black and white shirt, despite their generally negative tactics and shape. It remains to be seen whether that will be sufficient to earn a place back at the Emirates in 2021/2022, given the competition for places in midfield and likely further recruitment after the delayed Euro 2020 tournament is over. Nevertheless, he proved against Leicester how effective he can be with late runs to penetrate the backline, and he could test City's flexibility to the maximum.

Phil your boots

England starter Phil Foden was one of a number of individuals rested for their last-gasp defeat at home to Chelsea at the weekend. Here though, he should be recalled to the XI, and will enjoy coming up against a very accommodating defence, especially in the left half-space. Gabriel Jesus might get the nod as the nominal number nine, and has always been a hard worker, peeling off the apex of the attack to create space for others. That augurs very well for Foden and the red-hot guise of Riyad Mahrez, and the bank of five in the hosts' midfield will frequently find themselves bypassed by quick movement and interchanges by the newly crowned champions. The Stockport native will be looking for his 15th strike in all competitions, which is no mean feat for someone who has had to make do with plenty of cameos from the subs' bench in between other appearances.

Brucey bonus

Newcastle actually have a good number of skilful, attack-minded players at their disposal, and with the need to keep tight to eke out a result gone for another term, Bruce would do well to keep a more balanced approach up, even against the likes of Manchester City. bet365 have odds of 2.38 for over 3.5 goals in this one, and it's hard to envisage a dour encounter with the shackles off.

Bet Over 3.5 goals on Bet365