Manchester United meet Newcastle United in a mid-table Boxing Day encounter in the 2025-26 Premier League.
Victory would lift Man Utd up to fifth until Saturday afternoon, whilst Newcastle can climb as high as seventh if win by two goals or more.
Team News
Bruno Fernandes is ruled out for Man Utd after he suffered a hamstring injury in their 2-1 loss at Aston Villa.
Casemiro is back in contention after he served an one-match ban at Villa.
Kobbie Mainoo (calf), Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo (all international duty), Matthijs De Ligt (back) and Harry Maguire (muscle) remain absent.
Newcastle could welcome Nick Pope back after he missed the last month-and-a-half due to a groin injury.
Dan Burn (rib/lung), Jamaal Lascelles (muscle), Emil Krafth, Tino Livramento (both knee), Sven Botman (back), William Osula (ankle) and Kieran Trippier (hamstring) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Man Utd host Newcastle at Old Trafford on Boxing Day at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd have won one of their last seven league meetings against Newcastle (W1, D2, L4).
- Newcastle have won just one of their last 10 league visits to Man Utd (W1, D2, L7).
- Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have kept clean sheets in four of their last six league games against Man Utd.
- Two of Matheus Cunha’s three league goals for Utd this season were scored at home.
- No Newcastle player has been involved in more league goals this season than Nicke Woltemade (8), having produced seven goals and one assist in 14 appearances.
Prediction
Despite being without Diallo and Mbeumo, Man Utd should be encouraged by their performance at Villa because they were more dominant and controlled the attacking play, yet a lack of accurate finishing cost them in an otherwise close game where Villa were the marginally more clinical side on the counter-attack.
Newcastle meanwhile will be ruing the fact that they threw away a 2-0 lead against Chelsea through a careless moment of timid defending of a long ball from Malick Thiaw, as their attack otherwise was excellent and energetic whilst their first conceded goal was pretty unavoidable.
There is though no doubting that VAR did the Magpies dirty after Anthony Gordon was tugged to ground but I expect them to be up for this trip, especially given that Utd are without Fernandes whose absence leaves a huge hole in their midfield despite coping without him in the second half at Villa.
Utd’s big question now though is how do they cope without him across an entire match against more forward-pressing energetic opposition, so a draw feels like a fair call.
Prediction: Man Utd 1-1 Newcastle
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