Man Utd to continue winning ways
At eight o'clock on Wednesday, Manchester United will meet Newcastle and continue their winning ways. Newcastle will give everything they can, and Benitez is an experienced manager who can get the most out of a limited squad, but it won't be enough to stop this Man Utd 2.0 who are after blood.
Newcastle
I think it's probable that Newcastle will be in the relegation scrap come the end of the season. They simply, in my opinion, have too limited a squad and lack quality in almost all positions. They are a mediocre, which just won't cut it in the Premier League anymore. Shelvey and Diamé are a decent midfield duo that can occasionally make life difficult for their opponents and Rondon is good at throwing his weight around up front. But nothing really ever goes Newcastle's way; two wins, one draw and seven losses at home this season with an average of 0.70 goals scored and 1.50 goals conceded per game. The last three matches have ended with two losses and a draw, and against teams clearly worse than Man United. Newcastle are the league's next worst team at home and these figures are in line with their expected goals. They have a few injuries but otherwise they have a fit starting XI.
- League Position: 15
Manchester United
Now things seem to be coming together for United after the appointment of Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer. Not only do the players seem to be enjoying their football more under Solskjaer but they also seem more confident. Since he took over, Man Utd have won all their three matches and with a goal difference of 12-3. If we look at the stats we can see that Man Utd have struggled away from home this season, but it feels almost irresponsible to use stats from Mourinho's reign as this feels like a completely different team. 1-5 against Cardiff City is the only reference point for away performances under the Norwegian's management. The attack consisting of Rashford, Martial and Pogba are looking in-form and dangerous. Rashford is a doubt however after picking up a small strain against Bournemouth and Bailly is suspended after picking up a red card. But, Lukaku will be the most likely to replace Rashford and I can also see him performing much better under Solskjaer. United do have some injuries, including Smalling, Sanchez and Valencia.
Betting Tips
Solskjaer has enjoyed an incredible start at Man Utd as manager, but he can also thank the fixture list that has been incredibly kind. Even though this is a month were a lot can change, I think that this form will continue. Man Utd are on fire at the moment and will attack Newcastle all guns blazing. I think they will create many goal-scoring opportunities. Newcastle can occasionally threaten up front against weaker opposition, but this United are too hard to knock down right now. I will bet on Manchester United with a handicap of -1.
