Newcastle United: Can They Actually Beat Manchester City?

Only two games remain in the Premier League season for Newcastle United, but on Sunday they'll be playing arguably the toughest game of their 38—a home match-up with title-chasing Manchester City.

Newcastle themselves have a lot on the line with this game at St. James' Park, with a win vaulting them up into third, above Arsenal for at least half an hour (until the Spurs match is finished).

But can Newcastle defy all odds and actually beat Manchester City?

Newcastle have beaten all but three teams in the Premier League this season, with Man City being one of the elusive trio of victories (the other two are Spurs and Arsenal), but considering the calibre of team Newcastle have beaten this season, a win here shouldn't be out of the question.

The Toon are coming off the back of a comfortable victory over Champions League finalists Chelsea, and have even defeated Man City's neighbour and fellow title-contender Manchester United 3-0 in this campaign.

Home form is on Newcastle's side as well.

Whilst Man City trail Newcastle by only two points in the Premier League's form table, we must remember that Newcastle are actually unbeaten at St. James' Park in 2012 and have lost only twice there all season.

Though some may think Newcastle should be fearing the might of Manchester City, maybe it's the Citizens who should be shaking in their boots at the prospect of coming to the fortress that is St. James'.

The game promises to be one with lots of goals, what with the likes of Demba Ba, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez taking the field, but Newcastle have themselves the hottest goalscorer in the Premier League—Papiss Demba Cisse.

The Senegalese striker has burst onto the Premier League scene late this season, scoring 13 goals in just his first 12 games, and is pretty much a lock to score at least one goal every time he lines up to play. In fact, in only three of his 12 Premier League games Cisse has not scored a single goal.

Then there's the return to health of one of of Newcastle's key players, with Cheik Tiote being cleared to play despite an apparently nasty head injury against Chelsea.

Pardew will have almost a full squad to choose a starting line-up from, with only Danny Simpson and Steven Taylor out of action—but replacements James Perch and Mike Williamson both had fantastic games against Chelsea anyway.

As impossible as it may seem, Newcastle United are a genuine threat to take the three points on Sunday—all but solidifying themselves a Top Four spot and handing Manchester United a shot at the EPL title.

Regardless of the score, though, this has been a fantastic season for the Magpies, and there'll still be one more game to play against Everton to try and get into the Champions League.