Relegation candidates Newcastle will have to fight and hope for the best when they host second-placed Manchester United at St. James' Park on Sunday. The reverse fixture was won by the Red Devils 4-1, with goals scored by Anthony Martial, Chris Smalling, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku. Manchester United have won four of the last six matches against Newcastle, while the Magpies last defeated the Red Devils in 2013 but that victory was at Old Trafford. The last time Newcastle defeated Manchester United at St. James' Park was in 2012.
Newcastle are barely keeping their heads above the water this season, they have won just six of their 26 Premier League matches so far and they are one point above the relegation zone. It's quite clear that the Magpies will be struggling for survival until the very last weeks of the season, so they need every point they can get. They have not won a league match since New Year's Day, when they secured a 1-0 victory at Stoke. Robert Elliot, Ciaran Clark and Jesus Gamez are injured, but new signing Islam Slimani could be ready to play.
Manchester United recovered from the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham with a 2-0 home victory over Huddersfield last weekend, but third-placed Liverpool are just five points behind so the Red Devils need to keep winning the matches against weaker sides. Daley Blind, Marouane Fellaini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Bailly are all out injured, while manager Jose Mourinho might make a few more changes to his starting eleven after having dropped Paul Pogba to the bench last weekend. Marcus Rashford picked up a knock against Huddersfield but he should recover in time for Sunday's game.
Probable line-ups:
Newcastle: Darlow - Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Dummett - Ritchie, Diame, Shelvey, Kenedy - Perez - Gayle
Man United: De Gea - Valencia, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw - Matic, Pogba - Mata, Lingard, Sanchez - Lukaku
My prediction: Manchester United to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Newcastle win - 6.00
Draw - 3.89
Man United win - 1.66
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Comments (1)
sharpe
02/14/18, 09:02:37 PM
I think United played a pretty decent game in that, creating a lot of chances but in the end that they wasn't able to score any of them was the reason for the loss. From...
I think United played a pretty decent game in that, creating a lot of chances but in the end that they wasn't able to score any of them was the reason for the loss. From their side Newcastle team fought really hard and I think in the end the victory was quite deserved, a vital one too in their relegation fight.
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