Newcastle United vs Manchester United Preview

By Arjun Handa -
Newcastle United vs Manchester United Preview
Image result for newcastle vs manchester united
Image from Scorum
Happy New Year everyone and with the new year, hopefully better fortunes favour United than the start of the season which has hampered not only their title challenge but now has put their aspirations of top four in doubt. With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appointed as the manager of the Red Devils at least until the end of the season, United look revitalised and dangerous after three wins on the bounce against Cardiff (5-1), Huddersfield (3-1) and Bournemouth (4-1) and are looking to continue their good form with a win at St James' Park tomorrow. Rafa Benitez claimed that it would be a miracle if his side managed to remain in the Premier League and tried to play down the chances of the Magpies finishing in the top half of the league as they did last season but gained a creditable draw at Vicarage Road as Salomon Rondon's opener was cancelled out late by an Abdoulaye Doucoure header in the 82nd minute. 

Image result for paul pogba
Image from Goal.com
Manchester United will be without Eric Bailly after his red card against Bournemouth and so Victor Lindelof and Phil Jones will probably start at St James' Park. Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo are getting closer to returns but if a new centre back is signed, they may not have to. Young and Shaw are likely starters and may allow Darmian and Dalot to play against Reading on Saturday in the FA Cup. Pogba and Matic are guaranteed starters and have significantly improved under Solskjaer and I think Ander Herrera's energy and composure will be vital for breaking down the stubborn Newcastle defence. Again I think an unchanged front three is the right decision as, although Lukaku scored, Rashford, Lingard and Martial have been excellent and a fluid front three, like Liverpool have, seems to work better for United as well. Alexis Sanchez might be ready for the bench and could return to his best under Solskjaer but only time will tell. Newcastle may have some defensive woes of their own with both Federico Fernandez and Ciaran Clarke being assessed for the game after the former was brought off against Watford and could mean a return for Fabian Char. Ki Sung-Yeung is also unavailable as he is at the Asian Cup and there might be a return for Jonjo Shelvey in midfield. 

Manchester United have already played three teams all in the bottom half of the table under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and come out as victors each time but Newcastle will be the biggest danger for the Norwegian manager as, even when Newcastle are not playing well, they are a good side with hard-working players. Andre Yedlin's pace will be a worry for Luke Shaw as Anthony Martial might not always track back fully and Matt Ritchie could pose dangers in wide areas, delivering good crosses to the ferocious Salomon Rondon who will probably back himself against either Phil Jones or Victor Lindelof who are the likely contenders for the centre-back pairing tomorrow. Last time at St James' Park, Manchester United lost 1-0 to a Matt Ritchie strike that made it a second away defeat in a row for Jose Mourinho's side after a poor 2-0 loss at Wembley to Spurs on Alexis Sanchez's Premier League debut for United (that has unfortunately summed up his United career so far). In fact, United have not won at St James' Park since Ashley Young scored a 90th minute winner in 2015. It will be interesting to see whether Newcastle sit back and hit United on the counter or target United's weak defence. It could be a game in which the only question is how many United will score or if Newcastle can hold on. It all depends on who's sharper and hungrier than the other. 

Predicted Lineup: De Gea, Young (c), Lindelof, Jones, Shaw, Matic, Herrera, Pogba, Lingard, Martial, Rashford

PREDICTED SCORE: 0-3

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Transfers That Need to Happen for Manchester United

By Christian H. Marcusson -
Image
Source: EPA

Manchester United have, during the course of the season, been crying out for new signings to join the club. The signings that have been most prevalent that need to be made have been a new centre half to accompany Victor Lindelof, a right winger which has been needed for years as both Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard have adapted to the unnatural position, and a right back to replace Ashley Young and to complement Diogo Dalot.

Three players have been mentioned as the most likely signings that could happen for Manchester United. They are also the players which many believe could take Manchester United to the next level and potentially challenge for the Premier League title next season.

Kalidou Koulibaly has been heavily linked with Manchester United for a long period of time, especially during the January transfer window, but nothing came of the rumours. Manchester United will instead be looking to sign the Senegalese centre half in the summer to potentially build a long-l…
Read more

Where do United need to strengthen the most?

By Arion Armeniakos -
Image
Before the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the interim manager, it seemed as though half of the team needed to be moved on, and some major reinforcements were going to be necessary in the summer.

As we stand now approaching the final stretch of the season, it no longer feels that way. The feeling in and around Manchester United seems to be that there is enough talent at the club to lead it back to glory. The summer transfer window should be more about finding three or four solid pieces to strengthen the team that would be the league leaders if we only counted the points earned since Ole’s appointment. 
Personally, I would like to see Ole be given the job, to allow him to bring in some players that he thinks are needed in order to get to that next level and give the team the depth necessary to compete for the league title. The thought of that and a full pre-season under his watch makes me very optimistic for what is ahead regardless of the results for the rest of the season. 
N…
Read more

Big Phil Jones

By Chase Horton -
Image
Many fans want to sell him – and they have reason to. He has cost us multiple own-goals, penalties, and other defensive errors – that’s when he’s not with the Manchester United physicians, trying to recover from yet another injury. His name is Phil Jones, and he may seem like he has more cons than pros to his name, but I’m here to convince you otherwise.
Just what does ‘Big Phil’ have to offer?
Phil Jones may produce some of the biggest bone-headed mistakes (see our 2018 FA Cup final disaster), but despite all of that, he still gives 110% for the United badge, and that’s more than you can say for some players. Jones is United through and through, a very loyal player. And in today’s game where transfers happen in a blink of an eye and players openly talk about (possibly) moving to other teams, loyalty is somewhat of a rarity. Take Pogba for example; speaking just last week on the possibility of a Real Madrid move, the Frenchman said that it would be a “dream” to play under Zinedine Zida…
Read more

Centre Back Options That We Should Be Looking At!

By Suraj Shivshankar -
Image
Solskjaer's magical start to his managerial career at Manchester United is now sure to be rewarded with the permanent job at the club. Reports say that the announcement could come as early as this week. With that out of the way, our board can now focus on signings for the summer transfer window because we need a lot of them! One of the key areas we need strengthening in is defence. This upcoming transfer window will be a massive one for us. It will show the world our intent. It will show the world of football exactly where our interests lie. Are we satisfied with fighting for top 4 or do we want the big trophies? An example of how a big club behaves has been demonstrated in the last few weeks. The first one was Real Madrid already locking in a deal for Eder Militao because they know that this season was completely unacceptable by their standards. Their arch rivals, Barcelona, have already signed Frenkie De Jong and are now close to signing De Ligt as well.  Manchester United need…
Read more

Mason Greenwood - The Real Deal?

By Chase Horton -
Image
When you hear the term “young talent,” most people think of names such as Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappé, or Jadon Sancho. Well, it’s time to add another name to that ever-growing list – Mason Greenwood.

The 17 year-old Manchester United academy player has been able to see more of the pitch in recent weeks, notably United’s 3-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champion’s League, and their 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in the Premier League. Greenwood was a substitute in both games, coming in for Ashley Young in the PSG game in the 87th minute and replacing Nemanja Matić in the 80th minute against Arsenal.

What have we learned about Mason Greenwood? Although Mason Greenwood has only been able to see the pitch towards the end of games, anyone watching can see that he doesn’t play with nervousness about him, like most 17 year-olds play with. If I were to describe young Greenwood in one word, it would be ‘aggressive.’ The kid plays with next to no fear. In the game against PSG, Greenwo…
Read more

Hangover: Part IV - Manchester United Edition - and remedies to cure it

By indian_mourinho -
Image
The night of 6th March 2019 will go down as one of the finest in the history of Manchester United. What Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men achieved that night was beyond impossible. Never before in the grand history of the European Cup had a team recovered from a 2-0 deficit at home to go and qualify for the next round. But Rashford's thumping penalty, deep into stoppage time, sent millions of United fans around the world into rapturous celebrations. 

Solskjaer had done it, yet again. His team had indeed climbed the mountains that he had said were there to be climbed. It seemed like Solskjaer couldn't do anything wrong. But then came the hangover from that night in Paris. Solskjaer, who had lost just one match before that night, lost back to back games that saw the Red Devils crash out of the FA Cup and lose the 4th place to Arsenal in the league.
Three days after the PSG result, United faced Arsenal at the Emirates. Spurs' loss at St.Mary's had opened up the top four race a…
Read more

Sunderland u23’s v Manchester United u23’s: Match Report

By Brett Worthington -
Image
(GettyImages.com)
Manchester United u23’s had to settle for a hard-fought point on Friday night as they came back to draw 1-1 against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, thanks to Largie Ramazini’s first goal at u23 level.
It was a week that United’s academy staff would have been proud to see after regular options for Ricky Sbragia were not considered because of their involvement in Paris during the week. Brandon Williams, James Garner, Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong, and Mason Greenwood will all have benefited hugely from the experience in one the most memorable nights in the club's history of knockout football in Europe.
This meant Sbragia had to rely on his midfield consisting of a trio from the under 18’s- Ethan Galbraith, Dylan Levitt, and Aliou Traore. Centre back Di’Shon Bernard and Ramazini were also selected. 
(Chroniclelive.com)
Sunderland went into half-time a goal up thanks to Benjamin Kimpioka, but a battling performance from the Red Devils in the second half led to Ramazini …
Read more

What Makes Manchester United Great

By Victor Immanuel Oloo -
Image
Manchester United is the greatest club in the world. Yes, some people might want to throw some arguments here and there about Real Madrid, Barcelona or Liverpool, but this is a fact. It doesn't matter whether you’re a football fan or not, Manchester United is a club you surely have heard of. Manchester United is also the most celebrated football club in the game’s history. It is also the most successful club in the Premier League history. One thing that has kept United unparalleled at the top is the love that the fans have for the club. The fans have stood together supporting the club making them one of the most special groups of supporters in the game's history. You remember the traumatising moments post-Fergie era, the fans stuck to it, unlike other fans who kept changing teams. As a result, I will not include the fans on the list of what makes the club great because fans are a constant.

Here are some unique things about United that makes it not just great but the best:

Club…
Read more

Reds on International Duty Preview

By Njabz -
Image
A short synopsis of each Manchester United player that has been selected to represent their respective countries during the international break. Woe is me. International Break has reared its injury-filled head again and although it may be good for some of our players to get some game time, it can be a bit of a crisis considering that we always have one or two players that come back either fatigued or injured. Thankfully this is the last international break for the season, so hopefully after this our players can fully focus on the Premier league and the Champions League. The following is a list of players who will be representing their countries in the upcoming break.

England: With “Mike” Chris Smalling, Ashley Young and injury-prone Phil Jones not making the cut, it was assumed that Luke Shaw would be one of the players selected in this international break. Fantastic news up until he suffered an injury. We seem to have the worst of luck just as things were turning out well. Shaw has be…
Read more

Dean Henderson: Another Top Class United Goalkeeper?

By Brett Worthington -
Image
The 22-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper has become one of the best in the Championship this season, having signed for Sheffield United last summer on a season-long loan and Henderson will be hoping his performances and potential promotion to the Premier League will catch the eye of United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. 

Henderson has kept seven consecutive clean sheets in his last seven outings for the Blades as Chris Wilder’s men target automatic promotion to the Premier League. ‘Deano’ as nicknamed by the Blades fans, signed a new two-year deal at Old Trafford in the summer, with the option of a third. His contract was coming to an end, but his stellar performances which helped his old side Shrewsbury Town make it all the way to the League One play-off final and him personally making League One Team of the Year, saw United reward him for his fine form. Henderson has also had successful loan spells at Stockport County and Grimsby Town since joining United.

Sheffield United beat of…
Read more