Newcastle is hosting Manchester United at St. James’ Park in round 19 of the English Premier League. Newcastle is once again on a losing streak, but the good news is that a few positive results have brought them close to the safe zone. United is playing better since the new head coach took over, but there is still a ton of work to be done with this team.
Newcastle has only 1 win in the EPL so far this season, but they have had a few draws lately, and that has brought them just 3 points away from the safe zone in the EPL. Newcastle is the weakest defensive team in the league this season with 41 conceded goals, but their offense is much better than the other weak teams in the league. Newcastle hasn’t scored much, only 18 goals in 18 games. Callum Wilson is the leading goalscorer for Newcastle with 6 goals. There are a few injuries in Newcastle, but nothing too bad. Newcastle has a long and hard road ahead of them, they need to start winning more games, and they need to defend better because their offense is not producing enough to compensate, but there is enough time left in the season for them to save themselves.
United is now on a 6-game streak without a loss, while they won 4 of those 6 games. United has also qualified for the next stage of the Champions League where they will face Atletico Madrid. In their last game against Norwich, United wasn’t great, but they were good enough to score a goal and to win that game 0-1. In the standings, United is now in 7th place with 27 points, 26 scored goals, and 24 conceded goals. This 7th place is not leading into Europe, which means United has to wake up and start playing better defensively because that has cost them a lot of points already this season. Ronaldo is the leading goalscorer in Manchester United with 7 goals, Fernandes has 5 goals, while Pogba has added 7 assists. Pogba is still the only injured player in United, but there are still a lot of questionable players, but most of them should be available for this match. The situation is improving for United, they are playing better and better, but the title is already out of their reach, and they will need to wait at least one more season for it.
The trends are heavily on United’s side in this matchup, and given the form Newcastle is in, it will stay that way. It’s impossible to bet on Newcastle right now, even if that is just for them to score a goal. Newcastle has only 1 win this season, and it was at home, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in them right now.