Preview: United’s Manchester and Newcastle square up in Boxing Day clash

By Ian King

Would the real Manchester United and Newcastle United please stand up?

No-one seems able to have put together much consistency in the middle two-thirds of the Premier League this season, and both Manchester United and Newcastle United have shown tendencies towards Jekyll & Hydeism this season.

Manchester United have only won two of their last eight in the league, while Newcastle have followed up excellent performances against Manchester City and Everton at the end of November by winning once in four since. As with so many teams in this division this season, there’s little telling what they’re going to do from one week to the next, or sometimes from one half of a match to the next.

Manchester United’s recent record against Newcastle is surprisingly bad

Manchester United have won one and lost five of the six meetings between these two teams in all competitions, and Newcastle were one of six teams to do a home and away double over them in the league last season, their first in 94 years.

But in the spirit of Christmas, there is one omen that looks a little brighter for Manchester United. These two teams have met on Boxing Day five times before, and United have won four of those fixtures, with Newcastle’s only win against them on the 26th December coming in 1987.

Mason Mount is showing signs of becoming the player that Manchester United paid £55 million for two years ago

Mason Mount is clearly a player that Ruben Amorim likes. He’s made 14 league appearances already this season and has already scored more goals than he did in his previous two seasons combined at Old Trafford. It’s taken him a couple of years to get there, but he might just be turning into the player that United thought they’d spent £55 million on in 2023.

With an own goal for the ages to decide the Tyne-Wear Derby and two goals in the first quarter of their match against Chelsea, the last couple of weeks for Newcastle have essentially been The Nick Woltemade Show, so we should probably all stay tuned to see what happens next.

Both Uniteds have a lengthy list of absentees for this meeting

Both teams have a number of players missing. Manchester United have surrendered three – Bryan Mbuemo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui – to AFCON, while Bruno Fernandes has a damaged thigh and will be out for a couple of weeks, joining Harry Maguire (thigh), Matthijs de Ligt (back), and Kobbie Mainoo (calf) on the treatment table. Casemiro returns after missing their 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa suspended for picking up five yellow cards.

Newcastle haven’t lost anyone to AFCON – they’re one of six in the Premier League to have done so – but Dan Burn, Tino Livramento, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles and William Osula are all confirmed absentees. Nick Pope is due back soon, but is unlikely to make it back in time for this one.

Amorim versus both Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde could well end up in a stalemate

At the end of a year of unpredictability, it feels appropriate to be signing off for 2025 with a match between two teams who still can’t seem to decide whether they’re any good or not.

Manchester United remain a curious side. Their attacking options are significantly upgraded, but their central midfield remains missing that big, solid presence – and will be all the more so for this match, with the absence of Bruno Fernandes – while their defence still seems sluggish at times.

Newcastle, though, have taken the concept of inconsistency to strange and interesting new places this season. They can blow hot for 45 minutes, as they did against Chelsea, or cold for 90, as they did against Sunderland.

Every week now seems to be accompanied by someone asking, “Has Eddie Howe taken Newcastle United as far as he can?”, only for that question to be replied to – sometimes no more than a few minutes later – by an answer of, “Oh wait no, perhaps not yet.”

When two such contradictory teams meet, the cowardly thing to do is to predict a draw, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. But as an act of reckless Christmas bravery, I’ll go 2-2, and quite plausibly with one of them chucking away a two-goal lead.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Premier League with FotMob this season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.