The line-ups have been announced ahead of the 2pm kick-off at Old Trafford as Manchester United host Newcastle United.
Two changes for Howe with Joelinton back in the starting lineup as per my prediction, but it’s a forced change as there has been talk that Joe Willock wasn’t feeling well in the run-up to the game, so that sees Sean Longstaff keep his place in the centre of midfield. Willock does still make the bench, however.
One thing to note is that Jonjo Shelvey is on the bench for the Magpies. I don’t think many people were expecting to see Shelvey back on the team sheet in any form so soon. It will be interesting to see if he gets any sort of a run out, even if it’s just for a few minutes right at the end of the game.
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Meanwhile, the starting eleven for Manchester United looks like this:
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred; Antony, Fernandes, Sancho; Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has a nasty habit of scoring against Newcastle, so Botman is going to have his work cut out for him today, but if anyone can keep that man quiet it’s Botman.
That defence looks like it’s one that Newcastle should be able to exploit, especially in terms of height. Newcastle should be looking very dangerous from corners this afternoon.
I think if Newcastle are to get the positive result we all expect, we have to keep Anthony and Ronaldo quiet, and our back four look more than capable of that. The battle of the Brunos in midfield is going to be interesting, but come on, we all know who the superior Bruno is.
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