Manchester United are currently joint on points (46) with Leicester City. Both have played 24 games however, The Red Devils need a win to avoid giving Leicester the opportunity to go second, they face Aston Villa prior to the game at Old Trafford.

Newcastle United have managed to win two out of their last four games, with wins over Southampton (3-2) and Everton (2-0). Although in the last fixture between United and Newcastle, Ole Gunnar Solskjær's men won 4-1.

  • Team News

For the home side, Paul Pogba and Phil Jones both remain unavailable for United through injury. 

Donny van de Beek and  Edinson Cavani did not travel to the game against Real Sociedad but may be available for Sunday. Scott McTominay appeared to be struggling with a problem when he was substituted in that 4-0 win on Thursday.

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has confirmed that Karl Darlow remains his first choice between the posts. Bruce is sticking by Darlow as he thinks he "deserves it.”

Federico Fernandez trained yesterday and the day before but the game on Sunday will most likely be too soon for his return.

Fabian Schar has had his operation and Callum Wilson's has a muscle injury so he won't be available.  Javier Manquillo twisted his ankle badly but has since responded well to his treatment. Jeff Hendrick will return from his suspension after he received two yellow cards in his sides 3-2 win over Southampton.

  • Predicted Lineups

Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial

Newcastle United: Darlow; Krafth, Lascelles, Clark, Lewis; Willock, Hayden, Shelvey; Almiron, Gayle, Saint-Maximin

  • Ones to watch

In the reverse fixture the duo of Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes caused havoc for the Newcastle defence. Fernandes scored two, with one disallowed whilst assisting another. And Rashford scored one and assisted two.

Both players have been two of United's best performers this season. The Portuguese midfielder has had 23 goal contributions in 24 games so far this campaign with Rashford providing eight goals and six assists already this season. Both will be wanting to add to those numbers against The Magpies, therefore Bruce must make his players aware of their threat.

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For the away side, Allan Saint-Maximin will be looking to step up in the absence of his side's talisman, Callum Wilson. The winger was unavailable for a long period of time due to some long-term effects of COVID-19. However, the Frenchman recently returned to the squad and has featured in their last two games. The 23-year-old provided two assists in Newcastle's win over Southampton. 

Miguel Almiron also scored twice in that win and will be wanting to get more goals under his belt after struggling to find his feet when he first joined the club in 2019. Joe Willock has also impressed since he joined the club and will surely start the game after recently joining The Magpies on loan from Arsenal.

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  • Head to head

As previously mentioned, Manchester United were victorious in the reverse fixture. Aaron Wan-Bissaka got in on the scoring in that 4-1 win when he fired in United's third and his first goal for The Reds.

Newcastle did take the lead in that game through a Luke Shaw own-goal, however a first-half equaliser from United captain Harry Maguire set up Solskjær's men for the second half. United went on to score in the 86th, 90th and 96th minute.


The home side have won four out of the last five meetings between the two sides. However, Newcastle did frustrate United in October, 2019 when Matty Longstaff scored the only goal of the game. The stats do favour United with Newcastle's last win at Old Trafford coming in 2013, where again The Magpies won 1-0.

Steve Bruce as a manager only has one win to his name against his former side in 25 attempts across all competitions.

  • How to watch and kick off time

The game at Old Trafford will kick off at 19:00 (BST) and will be broadcasted live on TV on BT Sport 1.

  • Managers Comments

Ole Gunnar Solskjær when talking about the challenges of different sides and their game plans said: "You know, every game creates opportunities, it creates problems.

"Teams give you spaces and it’s just a natural thing because the pitch is as big as it is.

"There are 11 players on each team and some teams give you space behind, some give you it in between, sometimes teams try to press high or press low.

"We have to learn to adapt to every single game, it’s about learning from every game.

"So, in the last [Premier League] game, for example, West Brom defended deep and it wasn’t good enough from us.

"We knew about the spaces on Thursday so we have to play the game correctly and it’s also about quality, when you create chances to take that last pass or last cross.

"It’s about getting better and improving all the time.”

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Steve Bruce when speaking ahead of the trip to Old Trafford said: "Sheffield United went there three weeks ago and won – you can never say never and the beauty for me in the Premier League is there is never a given.

"Yes, we’ll have to play well and defend well, but it’s the Premier League.

"We’ve always got a chance."

Bruce later added: "Ole’s done a smashing job.

"Whatever he’s done has helped the team.

"It’s not an easy job, that’s for sure.

"But you see them a couple of weeks ago against Southampton, they are breath-taking going forward."