Manchester United will look to strengthen their grip on third position when they travel to St James Park this Sunday to play fellow top-four hopefuls Newcastle United.
The Magpies are contesting for a place in the top four this season, with their brilliant recruitment and management driving them towards their first appearance in the Champions League since the 2002/03 season.
They kept their quest on course just before the international break, with a pair of 2-1 wins over Wolves and Nottingham Forest, ensuring they remain within the distance of fourth-placed Tottenham.
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Even better is that Eddie Howe’s side come into this tie sitting just two points behind Spurs, with two games in hand. So a win here will take them above the North London club, who don’t play until Monday.
A win here will also put them level on points with Manchester United, who are just three points ahead. Having lost the Carabao Cup to the Red Devils in February, they will be desperate to exact revenge on them here.
St. James’ Park is the perfect place to achieve that, given that they have lost just one PL game here all season (W7, D5, L1). In addition, United wouldn’t want to drop points here, given the tight fight with Tottenham and Newcastle for the top four.
The Red Devils signed off for the international break in style by cruising into the FA Cup semi-final thanks to a 3-1 win over an ill-disciplined Fulham side.
With the season now in its final stretch, the goal for teams is to pick up as many points as possible in each game. It’s no different for Manchester United, who can still win three trophies this season, having already secured the Carabao Cup and qualified for the last eight of the Europa League and FA Cup last four.
However, the visitors had failed to score in back-to-back PL games and the reverse H2H (0-0). So they will have to be at their clinical best to win here and keep their top-four destiny intact.
Rediscovering their scoring form will be crucial to any United success, as only relegation-threatened Leicester, Nottingham, and Bournemouth have conceded more away league goals ahead of this round than United’s 27.Click here to get the best prediction for the game.
