Man U vs Newcastle
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 12:45pm
Manchester United will be hoping to maintain their 100 per cent start to the 2015-16 Premier League season when they host Newcastle United on Saturday (today).
Louis van Gaal’s team welcomes to Old Trafford a Magpies side that are still looking for their first league win under new manager, Steve McClaren.
Manchester United followed up their 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the first match of the season with a win by the same scoreline over Aston Villa last weekend, leaving them with six points from a possible six so far.
It has been a busy week for the squad, as they returned to Champions League action after missing out on a place in Europe’s top club competition last season, securing a 3-1 win over Club Brugge in their two-legged playoff tie, with Memphis Depay netting his first two goals for the team.
Scoring three goals will have been a welcome sight for United fans, as the side created few chances on target in their opening couple of matches in the league, relying on an own goal from Kyle Walker in their first outing, before Adnan Janzaj netted his first league goal in over a year against Villa.
Despite leaving out regular first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea in the first few weeks of the campaign while he continues to be linked with Real Madrid, Sergio Romero has kept clean sheets in both of his league appearances, leaving the team as one of three sides yet to concede in the top flight.
United continue to feature heavily in transfer speculation, with Sadio Mane of Southampton being linked with a move to Old Trafford after the club failed to agree a deal with Barcelona’s Pedro, who has since joined Chelsea, while the De Gea saga remains unresolved.
The Magpies are still waiting for their first Premier League win this season, following up their draw with Southampton on the opening weekend of the campaign with a defeat to Swansea City last time out.
While McClaren is still getting to know his new squad, he will need to start getting performances from the side soon as the fixtures are coming thick and fast, with a League Cup match against Northampton Town falling just three days after the trip to Old Trafford.
The club made the managerial change over the summer after John Carver narrowly kept them in the top flight at the end of the 2014-15 season, needing a victory on the final day to secure their status for this campaign.
Newcastle are yet to keep a clean sheet in the league, letting in two goals in both of their matches so far.
However, summer signing, Georginio Wijnaldum, did open his account for the club in the first fixture of the term.
Both teams have a player suspended for this match as Marouane Fellaini serves the final game in a three-match ban that carried over from last season, while Newcastle are without Daryl Janmaat, who was sent off in last week’s defeat to Swansea.
United have a couple of fitness concerns as Phil Jones has missed the start of the season with illness, which is likely to keep him out of action until the end of August, while Michael Carrick limped off during the match against Brugge earlier this week.
Manchester United possible starting lineup: Romero, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Mata, Januzaj, Depay, Rooney.
Newcastle possible starting lineup: Krul, Williamson, Mbemba, Coloccini, Haidara, Anita, Colback, Taylor, Wijnaldum, Thauvin, Cisse.