Newcastle vs Manchester United Prediction & Betting Tips - Premier League

Prediction published on 14/10/2020, 15:30  by James | Modified on 14/10/2020 at 16:30 in Premier League Predictions

The Premier League returns with Newcastle United playing host to Manchester United at St. James's Park on Saturday. United are reeling from one of their heaviest defeats of the Premier League era, a 6-1 home loss to Tottenham. It left them 16th in the table after three games. Newcastle, ninth in the table, have enjoyed a more fortuitous start and went into the international break on a high after a 3-1 home win over Burnley. The addition of Callum Wilson from Bournemouth has paid dividends in the early weeks of the campaign with the forward scoring four goals in four games. Bruno Fernandes is United's top goalscorer with two goals, both of which came from the penalty spot. Jokes were made at United's expense last season about their reliance on penalty kicks but it's been anything but funny for Solskjaer's men in recent weeks. They have only managed two open-play goals from their three matches. Three matches in which they have conceded an astonishing 11 goals. Reinforcements arrived on deadline day but only one of the new players, Alex Telles, was in the problem area of defence.

Despite their problems, United are on a terrific run of away form in the Premier League, winning their last five matches on the road while being unbeaten in eight games overall. And while Newcastle won their last home match, they failed to win their previous five home league outings. United lost at this ground in the first half of last season, when they were struggling to click under Solskjaer. The second half of that campaign saw them sweep the Magpies aside at Old Trafford with a 4-1 win. They don't have the swagger required to lead us to anticipate a repeat of that result, but, with the way they have been defending, we can imagine a repeat of the goal count. Back over 3.5 goals.