Newcastle v Man City: Three stats and three bets for Tuesday's EFL Cup semi-final

• Goals backed in EFL Cup semi-final first leg at St James'

• Cherki and Barnes backed to score

• Read Paul Higham's Newcastle v Man City preview

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Newcastle v Man City
Tuesday 13 Jan, 20:00 kick-off
Live on Sky Sports

It's the holders versus the club that have made a habit of winning the EFL Cup in recent years on Tuesday evening for what should be an exciting semi-final first leg. Manchester City are 6/42.50 tournament favourites to win this competition for the fifth time in Pep Guardiola's tenure as manager. The Magpies are 11/26.50 to retain the trophy they won last year. 

The hosts are sixth in the Premier League table while the visitors are second. Both arrive off the back of FA Cup victories, with Newcastle needing penalties to get past Bournemouth at St James' and City putting 10 goals past Exeter.  

The following is just a short stats based preview of the match. For a more in-depth look ahead to the match, and to get the best bets, read Paul Higham's preview. 

Bet #1 - Back goals at St James' Park

The Stat

Newcastle beat City here in the Premier League in November and last season the teams drew 1-1 at St James' Park. Both are stronger in attack than defence, with City's 45 league goals the highest in the division this term, and Newcastle's playing out a 4-3 win over Leeds and 3-3 draw with Bournemouth here in the past week.

It is no surprise to see over 2.5 goals at 8/151.53 but that's a little skinny for our liking, so we will take a chance on over 3.5 goals in the game at 29/202.45.

The Bet

Bet #2 - Back Cherki to score again

The Stat

Rayan Cherki is enjoying a fantastic first full season for City and has scored in the last two rounds of this competition. We will back the Frenchman to extend his streak to goals in three consecutive EFL Cup games.

The Bet

Bet #3 - Back Barnes to strike again

The Stat

Harvey Barnes has scored braces in his last two matches for Newcastle. The Magpies forward is yet to score in the EFL Cup this season but will fancy his chances against a City defence that has been leaky this season.

The Bet

Now read Paul Higham's match preview for Newcastle v Man City