Football betting tips: Monday Night Football
2pts Alexander Isak to score anytime at 8/5 (bet365)
1pt Fabian Schar to score anytime at 11/1 (Sky Bet)
0.5pt Fabian Schar to score first at 28/1 (Sky Bet)
BuildABet @ 17/1
- Newcastle to win
- Alexander Isak to score anytime
- Isak 3+ Total Shots
- Fabian Schar 2+ Total Shots
When asked, after their 2-0 defeat at Wolves, how long it will take for Manchester United to get better, Ruben Amorim's answer won't have filled supporters with much Christmas cheer.
"I have no idea".
It hasn't taken long for the latest young, vibrant, forward-thinking coach to switch from limiting expectations to refusing to commit to any.
Ultimately, these are all just platitudes to avoid scrutiny and buy time.
However, losing five out of six Premier League fixtures - with the one exception a smash and grab win at a beaten-down Manchester City - is an unavoidable fact, and while patience may indeed be a virtuous trait, judging by the level of chopping and changing since INEOS arrived, it remains in short supply at Old Trafford.
Already, it feels as though Amorim needs a result.
What are the best bets?
Really, he needs a performance to go with it too, but that feels highly unlikely.
Not only have there been precious few signs, but United will be without suspended central midfielders Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte and will be facing one of the top flight's in-form teams.
Newcastle have won their last four matches in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and conceding just once.
Their turnaround stretches all the way back to October, with Eddie Howe's side W7 D2 L2 since victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup kickstarted a meandering season; they're now very much back in contention for Champions League qualification.
While hard to make the case for anything other than an away win, the bookies do seem to have finally accepted that Manchester United are a poor team. Newcastle head to Old Trafford shorter than Chelsea were last month, and at 6/4 are a fraction of the price about Bournemouth (16/5) and Nottingham Forest (4/1) in recent weeks.
A combination of players returning to form and fitness has allowed the Magpies to find a level of performance severely lacking in the opening three months of the season, with it near impossible to overestimate the significance of ALEXANDER ISAK.
The Sweden striker has scored in nine of his last 12 appearances - and each of his last five league games - finding the net 11 times in total.
At 8/5 TO SCORE ANYTIME he simply must be backed continue his fine form against a struggling opponent who have kept just one clean sheet under their new manager, conceding 19 goals in 10 matches.
United have conceded in all manner of ways during that 10-game period, although there has rightly been a particular focus on their inability to defend corners.
In six of their last seven games, opponents have scored at least once from a corner, with seven scored in total. In all but one of those games, the first goal of the match has come in that manner.
Five different defenders have found the net, which makes it worth backing FABIAN SCHAR TO SCORE ANYTIME at 11/1 and TO SCORE FIRST at 28/1.
- CLICK HERE to back Fabian Schar to score anytime with Sky Bet
- CLICK HERE to back Fabian Schar to score first with Sky Bet
The Switzerland international continues to be a consistent goalscoring threat, scoring four times in just 19 games already this season.
Team news
Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte are both suspended for Manchester United, leaving them short of central midfield options.
Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw all remain out injured while there is no sign of a return for the jettisoned Marcus Rashford.
Newcastle should have Tino Livramento back after from illness after missed the win over Aston Villa.
Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles, Nick Pope and Emil Krafth and Sven Botman are still sidelined.
Predicted line-ups
Manchester United: Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Martinez; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Mainoo, Dalot; Amad, Hojlund, Garnacho.
Newcastle: Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; J Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Match facts
- Manchester United have lost just one of their last 39 home league games against Newcastle (W28 D10), going down 1-0 in December 2013 under David Moyes.
- Newcastle have won two of their last three Premier League games against Manchester United (L1), as many as they had in their previous 16 against them (D4 L10).
- Manchester United lost their last game of 2023 2-1 against Nottingham Forest – they’ve not lost their final league game in consecutive calendar years since 1985 (vs Everton) and 1986 (vs Norwich).
- Newcastle haven’t won their final league game in any of the last seven calendar years (D5 L2), since beating Nottingham Forest 3-1 in the Championship in 2016. Their last such Premier League victory was in 2014 against Everton (3-2).
- No team has lost more Premier League games since the start of December than Manchester United (4).
- They last lost more league games in a single calendar month back in September 1962 (5).
- Manchester United have lost 3-2 against Nottingham Forest and 3-0 against Bournemouth in their last two Premier League games. They’ve not lost three league games in a row at Old Trafford since February 1979, while they last conceded 3+ goals in a three in a row at home in October 1962.
- Newcastle have won their last three Premier League games by an aggregate score of 11-0. They last won four in a row in March/April 2023 (5), while they last did so without conceding in April 2012.
- Manchester United have lost four of their last five Premier League games, going down 3-0 against Bournemouth and 2-0 against Wolves in their last two. The Red Devils haven’t lost three consecutive league games without scoring since May 2015.
- Anthony Gordon scored home and away against Manchester United in the Premier League last season – no Newcastle player has ever scored in three consecutive appearances against the Red Devils in the competition.
- Alexander Isak has scored in each of his last five Premier League games, with Joe Willock the last Newcastle player to score in six in a row (a run of seven ending in May 2021). Isak has also scored 24 Premier League goals in 2024, with only Alan Shearer netting more in a calendar year for the Magpies (27 in 2002).
Odds correct at 1400 GMT (29/12/24)
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