In a fight for position Manchester United take on Newcastle United

Manchester United host the game on Boxing Day as they clash against Newcastle United with both teams sat closely next to each other in the Premier League table.

Manchester United sit in eighth place with Newcastle just below them in ninth on the same amount of point (25) but a worse goal difference.

Manchester United were on the losing side of things against last weekend against Watford after another awful display saw the Red Devils lose 2-0.

The Magpies on the other hand won last weekend with a Miguel Almiron goal gifting them the three points.

Team news

Paul Pogba may start for Manchester United after making his return from injury as a substitute against Watford.

Diogo Dalot is another available option but Eric Bailly, Angel Gomes and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are still missing.

Newcastle United are expected to be without Paul Dummett because of a groin injury but Jetro Willems has returned to training and may feature.

Allan Saint-Maximin, Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark, Matt Ritchie and Ki Sung-Yeung all remain out for the Magpies.

Steve Bruce has intimated Andy Carroll will not play the full festive programme so he could be rested.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted he will start Paul Pogba in the Boxing Day clash with Newcastle United, providing the Frenchman came through the match at Watford unscathed.

“Let’s see how he reacts to this [Watford game] and how he feels,”said Ole, when speaking to the media at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

“He did really well when he came on. It’s a big, big plus and it might be that we do get him in from the start [against Newcastle] because you just want to get more and more [quality] into the team when he plays.

“He can play anywhere. He can play as a holding midfielder, he’s a box-to-box midfielder. He can drop deep, get it, play those long passes, he can play higher up and combine like he did [at Watford]. He and Anthony [Martial] and Marcus [Rashford] started creating chances down that side so it depends on the game.

“That’s the beauty of having Paul because he is the best all-round midfielder in the world. He can perform all roles, but if I play him low, [some people will say] he should have played high and, if I play him high, I should have played low. There’s always going to be that discussion with him. But it’s great to have him back.”

Steve Bruce acknowledged the threat Manchester United can pose ahead of Newcastle United’s Premier League trip to Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

“Manchester United weren’t at their best but Watford were excellent and they were bottom of the league with nine points up until yesterday. They’ll be disappointed after what happened yesterday and that’s always a danger sign.

“A bad result and they always come out and want to try and erase that. It’s in their DNA. Make no mistake – when you go to Old Trafford, you’re going to have to play well, be brave when you have the ball and pose them a threat.

“We’ll enjoy the challenge of taking them on and we managed to beat them a few weeks ago so let’s see if we can do that at Old Trafford.

“They’ve got good players so we’ll have to be at our best to try and get something but we’re quietly confident.

“It’s going along okay at the moment but we’ve got Man United, Everton and Leicester – a hard, hard week lies upon us and that’s the beauty of the Premier League and how tough it is.

“We’ve given ourselves a nice platform, but we’re only halfway there. We’ve got to show the same resilience we’ve shown over the last few months, and see where it takes us.”

Head-to-head

Newcastle are looking to complete the league double over Manchester United for the first time since the 1930-31 season. Manchester United have been beaten by the Magpies in two of their past four matches, winning the other two encounters. The Red Devils have lost just one of their last 34 top-flight home games versus Newcastle (W24, D9). Newcastle’s last three wins over Manchester United all ended 1-0, including October’s reverse fixture.

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