Manchester United are winless in their last four matches in all competitions and limp into St. James’ Park on Sunday afternoon seeking their first Premier League victory since September 14th.
The Red Devils are fresh off of another disappointment under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as they drew nil-nil with AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Despite playing a competitive team featuring Daniel James, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, and David De Gea, Manchester United couldn’t breakdown the Dutch team. Now, Solskjaer needs a win against a struggling Newcastle United with his job hanging by a thread.
Newcastle United are coming off of their own poor run of results. Manager Steve Bruce has not won any of his last four Premier League matches collecting just two points from 12 possible.
Last weekend, Newcastle United were humiliated by Leicester City, 5-0, and Bruce had no answers for the opponent’s repeated attacks. Bruce even spent his press conference and interviews after the match stating he wasn’t sure of his players’ best positions.
You don’t have to go back far to find Newcastle United’s last win over Manchester United. That victory came in the 2017-18 season at St. James’ Park, 1-0. Matt Ritchie’s second-half goal gave Newcastle United the win.
Despite that win, Manchester United have dominated fixtures between the two clubs. Manchester United are undefeated in eight of their last nine games against Newcastle United. The Red Devils did the double over Newcastle United last season by a combined score of 5-2.
The Red Devils still concede 1.0 goals per match despite making defensive upgrades in the summer. Paul Pogba is set to miss the match due to re-injuring his ankle. The midfielder is out for three weeks but will have 10 days off with the international break upcoming.
Jesse Lingard is the latest injury casualty at Old Trafford. The midfielder pulled a hamstring against AZ Alkmaar and was removed from the match. Meanwhile, Anthony Martial could return to the line-up after his own hamstring injury.
Isaac Hayden, Florian Lejeune, and Dwight Gayle are all three ruled out for Newcastle United. Jonjo Shelvey and Jetro Willems could both be included in Bruce’s team after recovering from their respective injuries.
Neither team is in form and that should play into the result on Sunday. It will be a low-scoring game with under 2.5 goals as Newcastle United and Manchester United draw at St. James’ Park.