Manchester United vs Newcastle betting tips
Manchester United host Newcastle at Old Trafford in the Premier League this evening with the home side in danger of ending a disappointing year on a down note (8pm, Sky Sports).
United are desperate for a win after a torrid start under new manager Ruben Amorim, who suffered his fourth league defeat on Boxing Day after as his side capitulated at Wolves.
This sort of collapse is becoming a worrying theme at United in recent weeks after similar happenings against Spurs and Bournemouth, and it doesn’t get any easier as they come up against a Newcastle side who have surged up the table in recent weeks.
Wins in their last three matches have propelled the Magpies up into fifth in the league, and Eddie Howe’s side remain firmly in the hunt for Champions League football.
While it certainly doesn’t look like the Red Devils will be a rival for the top four at the moment, three points at Old Trafford would be another excellent result for a Newcastle side who have already taken points off Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City this season.
And the Magpies are favoured to get a result at the Theatre of Dreams, with an away win priced at around 6/4 on betting sites, and United offered at 9/5 to get the win.
Manchester United vs Newcastle betting preview: Visitors to earn deserved away win
Even the most pessimistic of United fans could not have seen such a disastrous start to Ruben Amorim’s tenure, and though there was brief optimism after the win in the Manchester derby, the last two results have shown that the Portuguese has a mammoth task on his hands.
And they now face one of the form sides in the league, with the Magpies having won their last three on the spin.
It is pretty simple to see why Newcastle are favourites on betting apps, even if it is only marginal, but what will worry home fans is their side’s recent inability to find the back of the net.
United haven’t scored a goal in their last two matches, and for much of the 90 they looked devoid of ideas on both occasions. While they accumulated 2.26 xG against the Cherries, they only managed 0.37 against Wolves, and while the circumstances of Bruno Fernandes’s red card at Molineux should be taken into account, it is clear to anyone who watches them that United’s biggest struggle is creating goals (as well as defending corners…).
To that end, a wager on Newcastle to win to nil on football betting sites could provide great value.
Manchester United vs Newcastle prediction 1: Newcastle to win to nil – 4/1 Bet365
Manchester United vs Newcastle tips: Isak to open the scoring
If we’re backing the above to happen, then all that remains to be seen is who scores the goals for the Magpies. They’ve had some high-scoring fixtures of late, including 4-0 wins against Ipswich and Leicester and a 3-0 win over Aston Villa last time out.
Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon got the first goal in the wins over Villa and Leicester, though we’re backing Alexander Isak to have the first word at Old Trafford.
Isak has scored in each of his last five matches, with his hat-trick against Ipswich meaning he has seven goals in his last five games.
In addition, the Swedish striker scored first against Liverpool, Brentford and Ipswich in that run, so he could offer good value as the first player to score at 4/1.
Manchester United vs Newcastle prediction 2: Alexander Isak to score first – 4/1 William Hill
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