Man United vs Newcastle Match Preview

Manchester United will be hoping to bounce back from successive defeats to Bournemouth and Wolves when they entertain fifth-placed Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday at Old Trafford.

The game will kick off at 20:00 GMT and will be televised live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.

New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim will have been left in no doubt of how serious the situation is at Old Trafford as they head into the new year hoping to drag themselves into the top half of the Premier League table.

Consecutive defeats to Bournemouth and Wolves have taken the shine off their surprise 2-1 victory in the derby against City a couple of weeks ago and that result has the looks of a blip as they struggle to be competitive even against some of the league’s lesser lights.

That does not bode well for a visit from Newcastle, who have scored 11 goals in their last three league games without conceding and the Magpies will be confident they can claim their first league success at the Theatre of Dreams in 11 years when they face the Red Devils in Sky’s final Monday Night Football offering of 2024.

Tip 1 – Newcastle to win @ 31/20

Amorim was seen as the saviour at Manchester United when he replaced Erik ten Hag as manager, but the Portuguese coach is finding life tough after losing four of his last five Premier League matches.

A win at the Etihad against champions City looks to have papered over the cracks and we are in the unusual position of seeing Newcastle chalked up as favourites to win their trip to Old Trafford, despite the fact their last league win came there in 2013.

However, following the home side’s capitulations in their 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth and the subsequent 2-0 defeat to Wolves, it seems entirely justified and there is good value to be had in getting behind the Magpies to claim three points.

It is not just the Red Devils’ issues that point to an away win, but the excellent form Eddie Howe’s team have displayed in pushing themselves up to fifth in the table before Sunday’s action took place.

They have eased past Leicester, Ipswich and Aston Villa in their last three matches and should have nothing to fear against a team who are still out of sorts despite their managerial change.

Tip 2 – Alexander Isak to score at any time @ 8/5

The star of the show during Newcastle’s recent progress has been striker Alexander Isak and he should be taken to add to his 11 Premier League goals this season when he lines up at Old Trafford.

The former Real Sociedad striker netted in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa, which came five days after he scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 win at Ipswich.

However, the Sweden hitman is anything but a flat-track bully as he has also been on target against some of this season’s leading lights, netting against Liverpool, Arsenal, surprise package Nottingham Forest and Chelsea in both the league and the EFL Cup.

Expect him to relish the opportunity to face a Manchester United defence that is struggling for confidence.