Newcastle Host Top Four Contenders Manchester United

Manchester United will continue to put pressure on the top three clubs in the division tomorrow night with a win away at Newcastle. Louis van Gaal`s men currently sit in fourth place though could usurp third placed Arsenal and fall two points behind Manchester City in second should they beat the Magpies and both the Gunners and their local rivals fail to pick up any points in their respective games. A defeat at St James Park would see the Red Devils liable to drop out of the top four with Liverpool just two points behind and looking to exploit any weakness.

Their hosts tomorrow night find themselves in 11th place and won`t be moving either up nor down even with a win or a defeat at the hands of the Manchester club. The Magpies are five points clear of Crystal Palace and West Brom in 12th and 13th whilst they are also four behind both West Ham and Stoke in ninth and 10th. A victory against the third place side would, however, stand John Carver`s men in good stead in their mission to move back into the top ten.

The two clubs have met only once this season, Old Trafford playing host to their clash back in December. The home side ran out the 3-1 victors on that occasion, van Gaal`s men looking good to keep a clean sheet before Papiss Cisse`s late consolation goal three minutes from time.

This Boxing Day clash saw Wayne Rooney complete a first half brace before Robin van Persie hit the first goal of the second 45 eight minutes after the restart. A number of bookmakers have odds of 18/1 on the visitors winning by three goals to one again tomorrow night whilst Rooney to score two or more goals is available at 11/1 (unibet).

Indeed, the Manchester club can be backed at the best price of 21/20 (betfred, Betvictor, Coral, Totesport) to pick up all three points from this game at St James Park. A Newcastle triumph is considered unlikely at odds of 16/5 (bet365, betfair, william hill). Otherwise, a draw is available at Betbright at 28/11.

That encounter between the two teams was one of Alan Pardew`s last games in charge of Newcastle United. Since his move to Crystal Palace, the Magpies have been under the stewardship of former assistant manager John Carver. Carver`s new look Newcastle have played four home games in the Premier League and have won one, lost one and drawn two.

What will give fans confidence is the fact that Carver`s men have scored in all of these four matches and kept their first St James clean sheet under him against Aston Villa last time out. This suggests that the North East club might be coming into a bit of form and the side can be backed at 8/15 (betfred, Betvictor) to score over 0.5 goals and are 6/1 (Spreadex) to win to nil for the second match in succession.

The outsiders will also be boosted by United`s suspect recent away form that has seen them win just one, draw three and pick up a defeat. This defeat came at the hands of mid-table Swansea (2-1) whilst they drew with Tottenham (0-0), West Ham (1-1) and Stoke (1-1).

What`s more, the Red Devils have only scored five goals in these five matches, the equivalent of one a match. Could there be value in Betvictor`s 13/2 on a 1-1 draw or the same price (Numerous) on a 1-0 Manchester win?

All five of these goals were scored by different players though it is Rooney who is the favourite to hit the back of the net at any time at 7/4 at 32red, 888sport and unibet.

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03/03/2015     © Frixo 2024