After what feels like ages Manchester United are back in Premier League action. On Monday 27th December Ralf Rangnick will take his team over to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United.
Opposition
Newcastle come into this game with a pretty poor stretch of form. In their last 6 games, they have only won 1, drawn 1 and lost the other 4. That one win being their only win the Premier League this season. Of the 18 matches they have played they have 1 win, 7 draws and 10 losses. This gives them 10 points and puts them in 19th place. It looks like Eddie Howe could have a bit of a relegation scrap on his hands for the rest of this season.
I think they will line up in as a 4-5-1 with Martin Dúbravka retaining his place in goal. The back four will most likely consist of Ritchie, Lascelles, Schär and Murphy. And then in central midfield I think we could see Jonjo Shelvey, Joelinton and Sean Longstaff. With Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almirón on the wings. And Callum Wilson no doubt returning to the number 9 position. Newcastle will no doubt look to be aggressive in defence and look to hit Manchester United on the break. With the pace of players like Saint-Maximin this could be a threat.
Manchester United
Ralf Rangnick will no doubt be looking to extend his unbeaten run of games as Manchester United manager. After the last two games were postponed due to covid Rangnick will want to see us return with a strong performance and convincing win.
I think Ralf will no doubt stick with his 4-2-2-2 formation with David de Gea retaining his place in goal. At left-back I think Alex Telles will retain his place and Diogo Dalot on the right. Both of these players have had something of a resurgence in recent matches and hopefully they can continue this good form. We could see the return of Raphael Varane alongside Harry Maguire at centre-back. With Lindelöf being a slight concern in terms of fitness and Varane set to make his return. We could see them feature together tomorrow.
And in midfield I fully expect to see Fred and McTominay in the two deeper roles with the energy and pressing that both of these players can bring. And then in the two wider creative areas I think we will see Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho. These two players could be perfect to unlocking the Newcastle defence. And then up top we will no doubt see Cristiano Ronaldo. As his strike partner I think we could see Mason Greenwood or potentially Marcus Rashford.
This should be more than enough to beat what is a pretty poor Newcastle team. I think we could see a few goals from Manchester United. With that in mind I’m going to go for a 3-1 United win. Hopefully we can come back from this unexpected break with a strong performance and a convincing win.