MONDAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews the Premier League fixture on Monday between NEWCASTLE v MAN U with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.

NEWCASTLE V MANCHESTER UNITED

8pm Although it won’t feel like a Monday because it’s the Christmas Break, we have Monday Night Football to enjoy as Newcastle host Manchester United! After a hectic day yesterday, even with some games postponed because of Covid19, we have just one Premier League and let’s be realistic too – as I type, there’s a chance this game doesn’t go ahead. In theory, it should go ahead because it’s been a while since Manchester United had their Covid19 outbreak, but you just don’t know these days! Twitter is always full of rumours and such, as we saw with the Spurs v Crystal Palace situation!

I have to say the situation in the Premier League at the moment makes betting tricky. There’s no getting away from the fact that you have to question how fits teams are in general, players on their own and who actually starts. That’s the situation we are in though, and we have to get on with it. There are still lots of edges in the market there, and I’m sure we’re going to see some big swings on the team news over the New Year period.

Manchester United haven’t played since they beat Norwich 1-0 on the 11th of December, and perhaps they caused the Norwich outbreak, or the other way around, which in turn caused the Aston Villa outbreak as Norwich played Aston Villa a few days later. It seems, from the outside anyway, that Newcastle haven’t had too many issues with Covid19. They have actually been able to play Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester City on the run up to Christmas, and unfortunately for them that resulted in three heavy defeats.

There has to be a small fitness question with United here given they closed their training camp, however they were back in training before Christmas. That was pretty close to Christmas though, so they won’t have had much time to prepare for this game. I’m sure Newcastle will be looking at this fixture and seeing it as a fantastic chance to cause an upset, but the home side have been so poor this season you have to wonder just how below par do United have to be to lose.

So far, Ralf Rangnick has done a fantastic job at the back for United. It early days however, and we need to see more games before making a full judgement. He’s definitely kept them tighter at the back, but you could say that has stopped them creating as many chances. Although Newcastle conceded four against Leicester, three against Liverpool and four against Manchester City – they might do a better job at stopping this United team. With the staggered return to training for United, this performance could be a little disjointed in places.

Given the situation, this is definitely a game for small stakes. The United lay is tempting but I do feel that they can grind out a win – just like they did with the 1-0 wins over Crystal Palace and Norwich. Under 2.5 goals is my selection at 2.4 on the BETDAQ Betting Exchange. That looks the value call as I expect this to be a close game, with again United keeping things tight. Newcastle don’t have the class to win here I feel, but they can make it tough for United. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another 1-0 win for United.

The Striker Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 2.4 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQNewmun

MATCH STATS

● Newcastle have won two of their last four Premier League home games against Manchester United (L2), more than they had in their previous 13 against the Red Devils at St James’ Park (W1 D3 L9). They did lose this exact fixture 4-1 last season, however.
● Manchester United have won their last four Premier League games against Newcastle, their longest such run against them since a run of five between 2004 and 2006.
● Manchester United have scored 112 Premier League goals against Newcastle – no side has scored more against a single opponent in the competition’s history (Arsenal also 112 vs Everton).
● Manchester United have won 10 Premier League games from a losing position against Newcastle – no side has won more from behind against an opponent in the competition’s history (Man Utd also 10 vs Southampton).
● Newcastle have conceded 79 Premier League goals in 2021, the joint-most in a single calendar year in the competition (also Ipswich Town in 1994). The last top-flight team to concede more over the course of a year were West Bromwich Albion in 1985 (87).
● Coming into this round of games, Newcastle have dropped more points from winning positions than any other Premier League side this season (17). It’s their highest such total in a single top-flight campaign since 2019-20, where they dropped 18 across the course of the whole season.
● Manchester United have won both of their two league games so far under Ralf Rangnick 1-0. No manager in the club’s history has kept a clean sheet in each of their first three league games in charge of the Red Devils.
● Only against Aston Villa (8) has Man Utd’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored more Premier League goals than he has against Newcastle (7). His seven goals have come in his last four league appearances against them, including a brace on his return to Manchester United in the reverse fixture this season.
● Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has been directly involved in seven goals in seven Premier League games against Newcastle, scoring four and assisting three. It’s the most goal involvements he’s had against a single opponent in the competition.
● Last season, Joe Willock was Newcastle’s second highest goalscorer in the Premier League, netting eight goals in 14 games and averaging a goal every 123 minutes. This season, however, the midfielder has failed to score in any of his 16 appearances for the Magpies (1053 minutes).