Manchester United vs Newcastle United

Out-of-sorts Manchester United will look to end a disastrous 2024 on a high when they take on in-form Premier League rivals Newcastle United at Old Trafford. 

Manchester United’s humiliating Premier League campaign hit a new low on Boxing Day, as a 2-0 loss at relegation-threatened Wolverhampton marked their fourth league defeat in December. Ruben Amorim became the first United manager since Walter Crickmer in 1932 to lose five of his first ten matches in charge of the Red Devils, putting his team at risk of losing five top-flight games in one calendar month for the first time in 62 years. Newcastle’s visit could be just what the doctor ordered for the downtrodden giants, considering they’ve only lost one of their last 39 league meetings on home turf (W28, D10). However, back-to-back Premier League defeats at Old Trafford paint a bleak picture for the 14th-placed underachievers, especially considering they conceded precisely three goals on both occasions.

On the other hand, Newcastle United have gone from strength to strength since a 4-2 defeat at Brentford at the start of the month, winning four consecutive domestic fixtures while scoring 3+ goals on each occasion. A 3-0 demolition of Aston Villa lifted the Magpies within a six-point distance of fourth-placed Chelsea. Furthermore, it was their third consecutive league victory without conceding, while they last won four in a row ‘to nil’ in 2012. Eddie Howe has recently found a winning formula against Man Utd, inspiring Newcastle to two victories across the last three H2Hs (L1) – as many as they had in their previous 16 (D4, L10)! However, consistency has been Newcastle’s Achilles heel on the road this season, with each of their nine away league games alternating between different outcomes (W3, D3, L3).