These two normally serve up a treat whenever they play in the Premier League so why not try and win a few bob when settling down to watch them in the early kick-off this weekend?
In the history of the Premier League, there haven’t been many more entertaining fixtures than those between Manchester United and Newcastle.
There have been some heavy defeats for both – think back to Philippe Albert’s chip and Newcastle’s five-goal thrashing of United way back in 1996 or a Paul Scholes hat-trick en route to a 6-2 United victory at St. James’ Park in 2003 – but it’s often the case that there are loads of goals and lots of drama.
In the same fixture last season, the home side won 4-3 thanks to a late Javier Hernandez winner and if you fancy another goalfest tomorrow afternoon, odds of 17/2 on over 5.5 goals looks mighty tempting indeed.
Given the predicament that United currently find themselves in, however, the likely absence of the injured Robin van Persie and the certain absence of the suspended Wayne Rooney, the Red Devils might struggle for goals.
United not scoring at home for two games in succession is almost unthinkable but the way things are going at the moment, anything is possible and a Newcastle clean sheet can be backed at 11/2, the same odds, incidentally, as what’s on offer for a Magpies win, which would be their first in the league at Old Trafford since 1972.
Without Rooney and Van Persie, you get the feeling that if United do win, then it might not exactly be pretty and could be a scrappy 1-0 or 2-1 (both on offer at 15/2), with those odds becoming increasingly attractive if you throw Javier Hernandez as first scorer into the mix, considering that the Mexican is almost guaranteed to start in the absence of the big two up front.
Chicharito is 4/1 to score first and evens to score at any time and we can see a lot of appeal in the Little Pea to score first and United to win 2-1 at 25/1.
For Newcastle, ironically, their form line is anything but black and white and while they have won away at Spurs, Aston Villa and Cardiff (Alan Pardew obviously wouldn’t have taken a draw there if he was offered it before the game), they have been dire on the road against Man City and Swansea, failing to score and conceding seven goals in the two games combined.
Pardew’s men have won four out of the last six league games, however, and a draw at 3/1 is certainly not out of the question; backing them to come from behind to seal a share of the spoils, as the likes of Southampton and Cardiff have done already this season, is even more rewarding at odds of 17/2.
In terms of who might score their goals, Loic Remy and Yoan Gouffran are decent anytime goalscorer bets at 5/2 and 4/1 respectively, while a Hatem Ben Arfa goal and a Newcastle win at 25/1 might appeal to the more romantic Newcastle fans confident that they, like Everton, can cause a shock against the Premier League champions.
As we’ve seen in the past, anything is often possible when these two meet and if you’re feeling nostalgic and think it’s gonna be like 1996 and 2003 all over again, you can get 175/1 on a 6-2 United win and 275/1 on a 4-0 win for Newcastle, the closest to a 5-0 you can get.
Frankly, we think there’s more chance of Keane and Shearer going at it again.
