Newcastle vs Man Utd Preview, Team News, Line-Ups, Betting Tips & Prediction

Manchester United will look to close in on the top four when they take on Newcastle United at St James Park tonight.

The Red Devils head into the game off the back of a disappointing performance against Sheffield United in the FA Cup with United needing a last gasp Wayne Rooney penalty to see-off the League One outfit at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The display has led to fresh criticism of Louis van Gaal’s playing style and the Dutchman himself even admitted in his press conference yesterday that his team have bored him at times this season, so I’m sure he’ll be looking for a more fluid performance tonight.

United desperately need a win to give their Champions League qualification hopes a major boost as they currently sit fifth in the Premier League table and three points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

Newcastle on the other hand are in dire need of a positive result themselves as the Geordies currently occupy 18th spot in the table so Steve McClaren will be hoping to move out of the relegation zone with a win on home soil.

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Team news

United will have to make-do without the services of Bastian Schweinsteiger after the midfielder suffered a knee injury last time out so Morgan Schneiderlin is set for a recall.

Phil Jones is still nursing a knee problem so Daley Blind is likely to continue alongside Chris Smalling at the back and Ashley Young could come in at left-back.

Antonio Valencia, Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo all remain out with long-term injuries.

Newcastle will hand a late fitness test to Fabricio Coloccini after the defender suffered a hamstring injury during the 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Watford on Saturday.

Jack Colback could return after overcoming his own hamstring injury but Florian Thauvin and Kevin Mbabu are doubts for the game with ankle and thigh injuries respectively.

Rolando Aarons and Emmanuel Riviere could be back in the squad but Steven Taylor, Papiss Cisse, Tim Krul, Massadio Haidara, Gabriel Obertan and Vurnon Anita are all out.

Likely Line-ups

Predicted Score

Newcastle 1-1 Man Utd: United’s inconsistent form is becoming a real problem and the players just don’t seem to be responding to van Gaal’s system. However, Newcastle are in poor form themselves and have lost their last four games in all competitions, so neither side is full of confidence right now. Therefore, I can see this ending all square.

Betting Tips

Man Utd are the narrow 4/5 favourites with the bookmakers but Football-Talk can get you enhanced odds of 5/1 on a Man Utd victory – just click here to take advantage. My prediction of 1-1 is on offer at 6/1 and I also like the look of Juan Mata opening the scoring at odds of 7/1. If you combined those two bets in a score-cast then we get very tempting odds of 40/1.

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What do you think? What line-up would you like to see start?