Manchester United are back in action for the first time in 16 days when they visit struggling Newcastle United in the Premier League on Monday evening.
The Red Devils have not played a competitive match since beating Norwich City on December 11th due to a Covid-19 outbreak within the camp, but interim boss Ralf Rangnick has confirmed he has a near fully-fit squad to choose from for the trip to St James’ Park.
Newcastle sit second bottom of the standings and three points adrift of safety heading into Monday’s contest, while Eddie Howe’s side have played three times since their opponents’ last fixture, losing to Leicester City, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Rangnick’s Side to Grind out Another Win
Man United are unbeaten in six matches across all competitions, the last three of which have been with interim manager Rangnick at the helm, although he has delivered solid if unspectacular results.
What is noticeable is the German has made United a lot more resilient in defence, as they have recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins in the Premier League against Norwich and Crystal Palace.
The Red Devils have not kept three successive clean sheets in the top-flight since March, but they will have every chance of doing exactly that against a Newcastle side that have scored just three goals across their last six league fixtures.
An away win is priced at 10/27, while Newcastle are 13/2 to register just their second league victory of the campaign and the draw is available at 17/4, but perhaps backing the visitors to win to nil at 6/4 is the way to go.
Rangnick’s side are also available at 6/1 to record their third successive 1-0 victory in the league under their interim boss.
Ronaldo to Step Up Once Again
The reverse meeting between these two sides earlier in the season ended in a 4-1 victory for Man United at Old Trafford, with the match best remembered for Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing a brace on what was his first appearance since returning to the club.
Ronaldo has certainly not disappointed since his summer move from Juventus, as he is the club’s leading scorer, netting 13 goals from just 16 starts across all competitions.
The 36-year-old’s brace against Newcastle has taken his tally to seven from his last four meetings with the Magpies and he can be backed at 10/13 to be an anytime scorer on Monday.
It may also be worth backing Ronaldo to open the scoring at 5/2, as three of his seven Premier League goals to date this season have seen him grab the first goal of the match, including at Norwich last time out.
Magpies Given Little Hope of Prevailing
Newcastle’s recent record against Man United is pretty dismal, as the Magpies have lost four meetings in a row and six of their last seven clashes with the red half of Manchester.
The only exception in that sequence was a 1-0 victory at St James’ back in October 2019 when Matty Longstaff – who has just been recalled from a loan spell at Aberdeen – struck the only goal of the contest.
The Magpies did claim their only victory of the season to date with a 1-0 home success over Burnley at the start of the month and they can be backed at 17/1 to repeat that scoreline against Man United.
It certainly appears to be a daunting task for Newcastle, who will be counting down the days until they can bring in reinforcements during the January transfer window, with Howe’s side priced at 20/29 to be relegated come the end of the season.
*All odds correct at time of writing