(Football news) Manchester United are languishing in 13th place in the Premier League standings, while Newcastle are in fifth position in the close battle to secure Champions League qualification.
Newcastle will head into Sunday’s contest in a positive mood after putting together a four-game winning run in all competitions, beginning with a narrow away league win over West Ham United, before they beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley to lift the EFL Cup and end their 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy.
After returning to league action with a 2-1 home win against Brentford, the Magpies went on to make light work of Monday’s away clash against Championship-bound Leicester City to collect their 11th win in 15 Premier League matches.
Jacob Murphy netted an early brace before Harvey Barnes scored against his former club to seal all three points inside 35 minutes, with the 3-0 victory moving Eddie Howe’s side into fifth position and one point clear of sixth-placed Manchester City.
Since the full-time whistle at the King Power Stadium, the Premier League has been awarded one of the two extra Champions League spots following Arsenal’s win over Real Madrid in midweek, meaning Newcastle are currently in a position that would secure them Champions League qualification for the second time in three seasons.
While they have a game in hand over the teams around them, Newcastle knows they can ill afford to rest on their laurels in their final eight league matches, and they certainly have high hopes of taking maximum points from Sunday’s fixture after winning four of their last five competitive meetings with Manchester United.
In fact, they have the chance to complete a league double over Manchester United for the first time since 1931 after claiming a 2-0 victory in December’s reverse fixture at Old Trafford.
While Newcastle’s focus is on domestic matters, Manchester United are prioritising their Europa League campaign because it offers their only route to securing European football for the 2025-26 campaign.
Ruben Amorim’s charges made the trip to France for Thursday’s quarter-final first leg against Lyon, which appeared to be going Man United’s way despite Andre Onana making a mistake for Thiago Almada’s opener.
Leny Yoro scored his first Manchester United goal before the break to level the scoreline, before Joshua Zirkzee found the net in the 88th minute to turn the game in the visitors’ favour, but just as the Red Devils appeared to be on course for victory, another Onana error allowed Rayan Cherki to net a stoppage-time equaliser to leave the tie in the balance ahead of next week’s return leg.
Not only did Manchester United miss out on a first-leg lead, but the 2-2 draw made it three games without a win since they cruised to a comfortable 3-0 away victory over Leicester City before the international break.
In truth, Man United are only playing for position in the league, with the Red Devils down in 13th place after winning 10, drawing eight and losing 13 of their 31 top-flight games this season, leaving them on course to endure their worst-ever Premier League finish.
They will also finish short of their previous lowest Premier League points tally (58) unless they win all of their remaining seven matches, which seems highly unlikely as they are still waiting to record back-to-back league victories for the first time this season.
Manchester United head into Sunday’s game with hopes of claiming their first win at St James’ Park since October 2020, while they are looking to avoid consecutive away league wins against the Magpies for the first time in 55 years.
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