Manchester United take on Newcastle in the Premier League tonight, with the starting line-up now confirmed.
Back in the North East at St. James’ Park, Michael Carrick will be hoping to extend his unbeaten run as United manager to eight matches. He’s already set his starting eleven and bench for this one.
The game comes after United edged out Crystal Palace 2-1 at Old Trafford over the weekend, giving fans some reason to be optimistic.
Here’s how Manchester United will line up:
Manchester United line-up confirmed for Newcastle
Manchester United make just one change from the side that beat Crystal Palace, with Noussair Mazraoui coming in at right-back in place of Diogo Dalot.
Benjamin Sesko keeps his spot up front, with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha once again flanking him. The midfield remains unchanged, with Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro continuing together.
At the back, Dalot is given a rest, allowing Mazraoui to step into the starting eleven after making an impact off the bench against Palace. Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro continue as the centre-back pairing.
Mazraoui made an impression when he came on for United’s 2-1 win against Crystal Palace last time out, helping to create the winning goal after replacing Dalot. The Moroccan now gets his chance to build on that showing.
Man United could go nine points clear with a win
Manchester United sacked their manager mid-season, but things still look on course to be quite successful for them.
Carrick’s main goal is to secure Champions League football, and that’s starting to look more and more realistic. After this round of fixtures, they could be nine points ahead of Chelsea in sixth if the Blues lose to Villa.
A win over Newcastle would also put them six points clear of Liverpool, which would be a strong position with nine games left in the season.
With the top five likely to qualify for the Champions League, beating Newcastle would almost guarantee their spot in next season’s competition.
United will face both Chelsea and Villa within their next five matches, and victories over both – combined with tonight’s game – would all but confirm qualification back into Europe’s top competition.
In theory, closing the gap between themselves and Arsenal by 10 points also keeps them in touching distance of joining the title race as well.
But first up, taking three points from Newcastle looks like another solid step toward wrapping up Champions League football for next year.
Read more:
