Premier League: Manchester United…the Entertainers!

Newcastle United vs Manchester United

The Ole Gunnar Solskjær bandwagon rolls on this week as the Red Devils head to the North East for their next big Premier League match.

It’s one of the classic fixtures which you can really enjoy with us here at SBOBET — two hotbeds of football with some of the most passionate fans in the game.

A resurgent Manchester United club is bound to put Newcastle to the sword, but the Geordies will fight tooth and nail for at least a point.

A couple of weeks ago, this fixture would have looked like a 0-0 or 0-1 and one that wouldn’t take the Premier League 2019 news headlines. But the Red Devils are back to their swashbuckling style under Champions League winner OGS.

The United players have their mojo back and Newcastle have a real job on to stop them.

Talking Points

Rafa Benitez loves a tussle with Manchester United

Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles is keen to battle Premier League big clubs — Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles arrives at the stadium before the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers

I don’t expect the visitors to have it all their own way.

The main reason Newcastle should survive another season in the top flight is that they have one of the best managers in world football.

Rafa knows how to set up a team in any circumstance and has managed some of the best sides in Europe. And as boss of Liverpool, he had many a run-in with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils. However, he has a very different challenge in Newcastle to those he faced as boss of Real Madrid, Liverpool, Napoli and Inter Milan.

The Magpies are merely hoping for Premier League survival and suffered a Boxing Day massacre at the hands of runaway leaders Liverpool.

They will be without the influential Ciaran Clark, out injured, and much will depend on skipper Jamaal Lascelles who will lead the hosts’ defence.

Newcastle may be at the top end of the seven clubs in the thick of a relegation battle, but with three of the bottom five teams winning at the weekend, the Magpies lost a little ground in the race for survival and now have just a three-point cushion above the bottom three.

Salomon Rondon has been an astute buy and is top scorer with five goals, netting at Watford in a 1-1 draw, but Newcastle were denied a win by a late equaliser for the Hornets.

Will the real Paul Pogba please stand up?

Paul Pogba celebrates after scoring the fifth goal against Premier League rival Cardiff City — Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba celebrates the fifth goal against Cardiff City during their Premier League match

There’s a real feel-good factor around Manchester United again since the arrival of OGS or—unkind though it is to say—the demise of Jose Mourinho. And one of the main reasons for Ollie’s exciting start to life in the Old Trafford dugout is the miraculous return to form of World Cup winner Paul Pogba.

In recent times, Pogba has been a shadow of the player who shared the joie de vivre of Les Bleus in Russia — that was until the change at the top. Jose had a public spat with United’s most expensive recruit and Pogba shed no tears when the Special One departed.

Now, Pogba is happy again he put in a man-of-the-match performance, scoring two goals in the 4-1 win over Bournemouth. That followed up his brace against Huddersfield.

Remarkably, he has only scored three this season under Mourinho and now has six assists to add to his seven goals.

OGS has registered three good wins against Cardiff, Huddersfield and Bournemouth. They are games the Red Devils were expected to win, but they did so scoring 12 goals and conceding a goal in every game.

Now that is more entertaining!

History

The head-to-head results tell a tale of Red Devils domination. The 20-time league winners have swept the Magpies aside on many occasions on the way to silverware in the Premier League era.

Newcastle have been on the end of 29 defeats to Manchester United, while drawing 14 and winning just six.

But Manchester United’s new boss will be well aware that Newcastle won this fixture 1-0 at St James’ Park last season, and that Rafa will be aiming for exactly that outcome.

Anthony Martial is in fine form and is Manchester United’s top scorer with eight.

But despite winning his first three games, OGS has plenty of work to do. A year ago, the Red Devils were second with 43 points, eight more than they have earned this season to reach sixth.

Betting Tip

	Newcastle United vs Manchester United	Manchester United -0.75 @1.72
	January 03, 04:00 (GMT+8)

The Premier League 2019 betting odds point to a fourth win for the new Manchester regime, with Newcastle at odds of 5.80, Manchester United at 1.56 and the draw at 4.00.

Rafa will set up his team to frustrate, but I think the game may run away from the Magpies. However, I can see the Reds conceding again. A 1-2 scoreline is the most likely outcome at 7.00, but with their newly discovered scoring freedom, I can see the visitors winning 1-3 at odds of 11.00.