Man U vs. Newcastle
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 6:30PM
Manchester United will resume their title chase following the international break when they host Newcastle United at Old Trafford this evening as old managerial rivals Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez renew hostilities.
The Red Devils sit eight points adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester City, whereas newly-promoted Newcastle have slipped into the bottom half of the table following back-to-back defeats.
Mourinho this week suggested that his team’s progress should not be judged solely by whether they win the Premier League title this season, which is perhaps the clearest admission yet that United could struggle to keep pace with their local rivals.
There certainly has been improvement from the Red Devils – this time last season they sat sixth in the table with 18 points to their name, and they failed to improve on that position in the final standings.
After 11 games this time around they are four places and five points better off, although that has been overshadowed by the relentless form of Manchester City, who have still dropped just two points all season.
All United can do now is simply keep on winning, although they have taken maximum points from just one of their last four Premier League games after winning six of their opening seven.
The goals have dried up too; Romelu Lukaku is currently on a seven-match drought for his club and the team as a whole have only found the back of the net twice in the league since the end of September – a far cry from the 21 goals they scored in their opening seven league outings.
United have a perfect record of five wins from five games at Old Trafford in the Premier League this term and are yet to even concede in front of their own fans, scoring 15 goals without reply in that time.
Mourinho’s side have maintained that remarkable form in other competitions too and are currently on a nine-match winning streak at Old Trafford, during which time they have scored 26 goals and conceded just once.
It is now 38 matches since United last tasted defeat on home turf too, stretching all the way back to September 2016 when they lost 2-1 to Manchester City in the Premier League.
The visit of Newcastle appears on paper to be the perfect opportunity to rediscover their form, then, although Mourinho will be wary having already fallen to one shock defeat against a promoted side this season.
Man Utd possible XI: De Gea, Bailly, Smalling, Blind, Valencia, Fellaini, Matic, Young, Mkhitaryan, Lukaku, Rashford.
Newcastle possible XI: Elliot, Yedlin, Clark, Lejeune, Manquillo, Ritchie, Hayden, Shelvey, Diame, Murphy, Gayle.