You know, I’ve got to be honest and say that this is a game I’ve been low key concerned about for a while. With United’s recent results and performances, I have NO confidence that we will get a positive result. Not that I had much to begin with but two wins in eight removes that little bit of hope one had.

AND they’ll be no Bruno which for me, isn’t the worst thing but I’m not at that club. What I mean is that the influence of Bruno is next level and the love people have for him is off the charts. With the weak mentality of our players as well, they will probably crumble without him.

Whatever the case is, this is a game we CANNOT afford to lose. The least we can do is get a draw but even that won’t be enough.

Amorim NEEDS a result!

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Predicted Lineup

Last week, I thought it was going to be one of the weirdest teams of the season. With that Bruno injury, Mainoo being unavailable and at this point, not knowing whether De Ligt or Maguire will be back, it certainly makes things A LOT more interesting.

Lammens

Yoro, Heaven, Shaw

Dalot, Casemiro, Martinez, Dorgu

Mount, Cunha

Sesko

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Amorim will have to stick to the same back three if others are still unavailable. We can all see that Yoro is seriously struggling at the moment and either needs experience next to him or be dropped which can’t happen with the injuries.

For the second game in a row, the midfield will be changed as a returning Casemiro surely starts ahead of Ugarte. With Mainoo and Bruno out, Martinez has to play next to the Brazilian. Amorim could always put the butcher in defense instead of Yoro and use Jack Fletcher in midfield but I highly doubt the manager will use a youngster in such a pressure game.

Once more, unchanged up front with Amad and Mbeumo in Morocco and the ill-favoured Zirkzee having to be content with a place on the bench. Cunha, Mount and Sesko will have to continue despite a flat display at Villa.

This team will lack for strength on the bench due to most of the players being out meaning that once again, it will be down to the first team to win the game.

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Approach

It’s very difficult with United. I really don’t know how we’re going to play because we don’t actually know what we are.

The identity of the style of play is as unpredictable as the team. Sometimes we play counter-attacking football. Other times a more possession-based game but struggling to break down a low block. We also heavily rely on set-pieces and moments to save us.

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Against the Geordie's, we know we cannot be playing on the defensive. As we’re at home and the onus is on United, we’ll have to take the game to them which isn’t necessarily what we want. Newcastle are also a side who prefer to sit deep and hit on the break themselves which will be exactly what they’re looking for.

The set-pieces might be a problem as well given the height and strength in the air of Newcastle. Without the quality of Bruno’s delivery either, this will make things harder for United to actually create a good chance from free-kicks and corners. 5 of his 7 assists this season have come from set-pieces.

Another issue will be creating chances from open play because the skipper is someone who can make things happen out of nothing although that is in a more attacking sense. Yet that eye for the pass is not something most in our team have.

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This is where someone like Cunha has to show us why he was bought. The Brazilian appears to have found some form in recent weeks getting 3 goals and assists in his last three matches. We now have to see him kick on without the influential skipper. We’re most likely going to rely on moments and set-pieces to actually create chances and hopefully score goals and a player like Cunha can come in clutch here.

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The midfield will be a key battle. As usual. For United however, we will have a slow, has been of a CDM who can do a job but isn’t the best and a defender playing as a no 8 (potentially). Against the likes of Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, they probably don’t have a chance.

Weirdly though, I feel that they have a better chance than our standard pivot of Casemiro and Bruno. With Martinez next to the five-time Champions League winner, it is more defensively solid and can provide a better balance.

Martinez’s composure in possession and strong passing ability particularly between the lines compliments Casemiro’s more destroyer style. We saw just how easy it was for Martinez to play as that no 8 and the thing that I like most is that as he is a natural defender meaning he does track back, puts blocks in, goes into 50/50s and can then progress the ball once we win it back.

I’m actually low key looking forward to seeing this partnership.

The destroyer and the butcher is a pairing that suggests they won’t give two shits about anything. Full-blooded, no holding back and the ‘good’ thing is that Newcastle have two full-blooded South Americans in their midfield too.

Should be feisty 😁. Don’t be surprised if a few cards are brandished.

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Forms

United’s defeat to Villa dropped us down to 7th. There is a positive though, as due to the inconsistencies of others, we are just 3 points behind Chelsea in 4th.

This is also the first time in a while where we play before everyone else giving us the opportunity to win and put pressure on others.

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That loss last time out was our fifth of the campaign and was also the 27th and 28th goals we’ve conceded. United have scored 10 more goals than a year ago but have let in 6 more.

Another concerning matter is that we had six clean sheets at this stage last season. After 17 games this, that number stands at just one. In the last 10 years, this is our worst record in terms of clean sheets.

One win in our last four, two wins in our last eight and 14 conceded in that time. Yep, very little confidence indeed 😐.

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Newcastle drew their last match against Chelsea and are now 3 points behind United in 11th spot. The Geordie’s are as inconsistent as us as they’ve won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five. Their overall record sees them struggling to find any form with consistent wins hard to come by.

They have six wins, five draws and six losses which is already half the amount of defeats they suffered in all of last season. Similarly to United, Newcastle have a low GD of just +1 with 23 scored and 22 conceded. Eddie Howe’s side have managed to keep five clean sheets however, none of those have come in their last ten games. Still a better record than ours though 😑.

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After five games at Old Trafford, United were sitting 4th just a point behind Arsenal at the top of the home table. Thanks to no wins in our last three at the Theatre though, we’ve slumped to a lowly 13th, a 10 points deficit to leaders City.

Only the noisy neighbours and Arsenal have score d ore than our 16 at home which is a positive but the flip side to that is that only Forest, West Ham and Wolves have conceded more than our 12. A pretty big negative indeed.

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Newcastle are in a surprising 15th in the away table with one win, three draws and four losses in eight games giving them a total of just 6 points. They’ve scored just 7 which is only worsened by Sunderland, Forest and Wolves. Newcastle have a goal difference of -3.

These are very surprising numbers tbh. I expected them to be much better than that especially on the road. Considering they will play the defend-and-counter style that works in their favour, I would’ve expected more points from the Geordie’s.

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The recent record however, shows that Newcastle have well and truly had United’s number.

The last five in the PL sees MUFC with just the solitary win and Newcastle with four victories! This includes a double for Howe last season. This fixture in 24/25 was a straightforward 2-0 triumph just a month-and-half into Ruben Amorim’s reign.

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Newcastle

It’s been a very underwhelming season for Eddie Howe. Tbh, I feel as if he wasn’t English, the pressure on him would be tenfold.

I think what might be the issue is them having to play two games a week and they can’t handle the load. This is what happened to them the last time they were in the Champions League as their form went downhill the next campaign.

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What Howe has managed to do though, is make them tough to beat particularly against the bigger teams. They drew 2-2 with both Spurs and Chelsea, beat City and narrowly lost to Arsenal and Liverpool thanks to late winners.

With the pressure on United however, Howe will know that they can play their more counter-attacking style. Keep things tight and use the speed and width of the likes of Anthony Elanga, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes to catch us on the break.

We also struggle against the low block which is no secret at this point. Without the services of Bruno, the creativity levels will drop as well as the quality in terms of delivery from set-pieces which would’ve been a problem anyway given the height of Newcastle.

Their defense, midfield and attack is strong whereas ours is not. We concede silly goals, the midfield gets run through all the time not to mention that it’s usually outnumbered, and while we do score, a lot of those are dependent on set-pieces with a lot of those depending on the skipper.

Newcastle just have to do what they always do and they should get a positive result.

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They do have some doubts but with a quality squad, should still be strong enough to cause us all sorts of problems.

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Prediction

As I said at the start, this is a match that I’ve had a feeling for a while in which we could struggle, really struggle.

United have one of the Grimsby, Brentford, Everton or West Ham-type performances (one that makes you feel like this could be the end for the manager) every now and then.

We haven’t had one of those in a few games.

Newcastle at home is arguably the worst team we could have in terms of trying to get back to winning ways: home pressure, needing to play on the front-foot, major absentees, and against a side that is precisely NOT the type of opponent we like to face. They’ve also beaten us more than not in recent years.

This game could really spell trouble for Ruben Amorim if he’s not careful.

I can’t see us winning this one 👎. I’m going for a 1-1 draw at best or a 3-1 loss at worst 😬.

Thoughts on the Boxing Day clash?

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Matheus Cunha | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)