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Our pre-match postbag is positively brimming with festive cheer. “A goal-glut for the ages, eh? Why do I feel like I’m in for the biggest Christmas let-down since I asked my da for the Barcelona Subbuteo team and opened up the box under the tree to find… Burnley? Yours, Scrooge and the Grinch” – Justin Kavanagh
“As discussed on the Football Weekly podcast, Eddie Howe is given an easy time by critics. He has reached his ceiling. Newcastle cannot improve any more under his management” – Jeff Sax
“For my entire life as a Newcastle fan, it has been virtually nothing but misery at Old Trafford, a familiar sensation of shooting pains at the mere thought of the Man U (a) fixture. But looking at the two benches tonight, its clear that we have the depth and resources to win this match – maybe our expectations should be set higher? Anyway, I’m operating on practically zero sleep (one of the neighbours has a pet sheep that has been keeping me up at night) and I’m well on the way to type 2 diabetes after my dietary efforts over the festive period, so even a battling draw tonight would be enough to lift my spirits” – Chris Paraskevas
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Ruben Amorim speaks to Sky. “We are prepared … we know we have some players out but there are no excuses … we need to perform well … we are performing so much better … in the last games, for some reason, some details, we are not winning the games … we will try to win this one … everyone needs to step up because Bruno is not here … we need to be physical … [Newcastle] need to feel uncomfortable … we need to be smart … we cannot lose the ball in our half … we know what they want, so we will try to do the opposite … but we will also play with our strengths … [the five academy kids on the Manchester United bench] are ready to help the team … we have a short squad to give the kids an opportunity when a lot of things happen at the same time … they are really proud to be here and that is a good feeling I have with these kids … if we need them they will be on the pitch … since the start of the season my feeling is we can win any game … it is a little bit different compared to last season … even without a lot of good players, we can win this game … I have that feeling.”
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Some other Boxing Day reading for you, seeing we’re whiling away the time until kick-off. Afcon! Championship! Nags! You want it all, and we can’t let you down. Not at Christmas. Enjoy, enjoy.
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Eddie Howe talks to Sky Sports. “There’s no getting way from the fact that [the season has been challenging] … we need to do better … there’s only one way to respond … try to win as many games as we can … this is a tough assignment today but one we can rise to … certainly a big challenge … we did OK against [Manchester United] last year but they have improved … grown … we’ve done the same in recent weeks … our recent form, bar the Sunderland game, has been pretty good … we’re in a decent moment without winning the number of games we need to, to climb the table … that’s why games like this are so important to us … we are playing a team in and around us … it would mean a lot to get three points today … we’ve been in some really good positions in games … overall it is positive … we have to do certain things to swing those good performances into wins … we can’t change the past … we can only affect the future.”
He also reports that Nick Pope isn’t quite up to full match fitness yet.
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Some of that aforementioned spirit of Boxing Day ‘63 is most certainly in the air. Wrexham have just beaten Sheffield United 5-3 at the Racecourse Ground. They were 3-1 down after 24 minutes. Such a shame the two teams aren’t reconvening at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
(The Blades drew 3-3 at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day 1963, then lost 2-1 to them at home 48 hours later, seeing you’re not asking.)
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The rewards on offer tonight. Seventh-placed Manchester United will leapfrog their old north-west pals Liverpool into fifth place with a win. Newcastle start the game in the bottom half of the table, but should they win by two goals this evening, they’ll nip in ahead of Manchester United and into seventh. Any victory would take Newcastle above Crystal Palace and into eighth.
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Manchester United make two changes to their starting XI following the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. Bruno Fernandes is injured, so his captain’s armband is taken by Lisandro Martínez, making his first start since his return from injury. Casemiro takes Fernandes’s place in midfield, returning as he is from a one-match suspension. Leny Yoro drops to the bench.
Newcastle United name the same starting XI that began the 2-2 home draw with Chelsea. Joelinton, who scored here in the Toon’s 2-0 win almost a year ago to the day, is on the bench.
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The teams
Manchester United: Lammens, Martinez, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu, Cunha, Mount, Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Zirkzee, Malacia, Yoro, Fredricson, Jack Fletcher, Lacey, Mantato, Tyler Fletcher.
Newcastle United: Ramsdale, Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall, Tonali, Guimaraes, Ramsey, Jacob Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon.
Subs: Pope, Joelinton, Wissa, Barnes, Willock, Alex Murphy, Shahar, Neave, Alabi.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Stuart Attwell
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Updated at 14.00 EST
Preamble
The full Boxing Day fixture list for England’s top flight reads as follows:
And that’s it. So much for tradition. And yet! Never mind! Because this game could feasibly end up with a scoreline that would slot seamlessly into that 1963 results service, an ersatz pastiche of English football’s most famous festive feelgood farrago. You see, Newcastle haven’t had a clean sheet in the Premier League since the start of October, a run stretching back ten games; Manchester United’s last home fixture ended 4-4, for goodness sake. Newcastle have won five of the last six meetings between these sides, to the aggregate score of 14-4; Manchester United have won all previous Boxing Day meetings between the clubs in the Premier League era to the cumulative tune of 11-5. Fold in the unpredictable manner in which both teams are currently going about their business, and this could be a goal-glut for the ages†. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
†: Apologies if we’ve tempted fate, and the Football Gods, into the delivery of a mind-numbing goalless draw. But what sort of life is this if you can’t whip yourself up into an anticipatory frenzy at Christmas?
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