GiveMeSport looks at Newcastle Utd 1996 and Man City 2013.
It’s not only their haircuts that are similar.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City side are proving just as, or even more, entertaining than the 1995-96 Newcastle United side managed by Kevin Keegan.
City are, like Newcastle were that season, phenomenal at home, but flounder somewhat on their travels.
The Magpies won 17 of their 19 league games that season and were beating teams at not quite the same extent as City have done so far this term, but very convincingly all the same.
If you go through the forwards from the two sides then one can see the parallels between them; for Les Ferdinand take Alvaro Negredo; for Peter Beardsley take Sergio Aguero (or David Silva if you like).
Negredo’s nickname is ‘The Beast’, which is what Ferdinand was on the pitch, being one of the best at holding off defenders and one of the most powerful finishers in the 90s.
Unlike that Newcastle team, however, the Blues are not many people’s second favourite team.
Probably because many people didn''t believe KK would out-fox Fergie and take the title - perhaps we were the ''hopefuls that were not really a threat'' - and doesn''t the world LOVE gallant losers?
Why are City nowhere near as popular? Because they ARE genuine title contenders!