England Premier League
Thursday 26th December 2019
Kick off at 5:30pm GMT
Venue: Old Trafford
Match Preview:
Just when it seemed that Manchester United had turned a corner and found good form ready for a top 4 fight they lost against the bottom side in the Premier League. At that moment the form which has plagued the team from last March until November returned and everyone shrugged their shoulders. The 2-0 loss to Watford was a poor and unexpected result and even manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer compared his teams display to an exhibition. The only bright light was seeing the return of Paul Pogba, who when he came on, played energetic football and looked a danger, the team will be hoping that Pogba can replicate this performance on Boxing Day.
The loss put Manchester United down to 8th place and they are 7 points behind Chelsea in 4th. The club have only lost 1 game at home this season but the problem has been draws with almost 50% of games played at Old Trafford ending that way. Their last result here underlines that with a 1-1 draw against Everton.
Newcastle are now in 9th place and have the same points as United so this will be a very interesting match. Former great Steve Bruce will return to his old club and he has worked wonders with the Magpies this season. The club are also on form having won 3 of their last 4 games. Last weekend they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and they have lost just once in their last five games.
On the road Newcastle have lost 6 of their 9 matches although they have won 2 of their last 4 matches and are clearly a side improving week on week. The one worry is that they have scored just 8 goals away from home all season and 3 of those occurred in one game v West Ham.
Team News:
Manchester United: There is hope that Eric Bailly who has missed the season so far could return for this game but there has been no confirmation. There are no new injury concerns
Newcastle: Paul Dummett will almost surely miss this game with a groin injury. Jetro Willems has a knock but should be available for this game
Man Utd vs Newcastle Head to Head:
Last season Manchester United won this game 3-2.
Newcastle haven’t won at this ground since 2013.
There is a 50% chance to see over 3.5 goals.
Man Utd vs Newcastle Prediction:
Maybe it is taking a risk given how many times Manchester United have let themselves down this year but we feel the loss against Watford could be a blip in otherwise good form and that the club can get a win here. Newcastle are full of confidence and will provide their hosts with many problems but Manchester have the pace and quality here and being at home we think they can get all three points. If Chelsea were to win again and United didn’t win this match there would be a 10 point gap and with the teams in between them we could consider that United would have little chance of a top 4 place finish even in December. In short this is a must win game for Solskjaer’s side. The problem we have is that they are priced up at 1.30 to do so. Instead to find better value we will predict this to be a cagey game, Newcastle will set up defensively, and Man Utd will be pushing to break the deadlock but may not over commit after their result against Watford, making a 1-0 or 2-0 result likely, and therefore we don't expect both teams to score.
Man Utd vs Newcastle Betting Tips:
Both teams to score (No) at 1.70
Anytime goalscorer: Paul Pogba at 3.00
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