Preview: Manchester United vs Newcastle United - prediction, team news, lineups

For the first time ever in the Premier League era, only one English top-flight match will be played on Boxing Day, but it is an unmissable one between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

No side has won more Premier League games on December 26 than Man Utd (22), while the Magpies' 16 losses on the day is the joint-most of any team, but more recent events suggest history is unlikely to bear much weight on Friday's fight.

Match preview

The Christmas celebrations were toned down a notch on the red half of Manchester last weekend, when a former Manchester City flame dealt two hammer blows to the Red Devils' European hopes, and two stunning hammer blows at that.

Morgan Rogers's magical brace for Aston Villa - two strikes that came either side of a Matheus Cunha leveller - condemned Ruben Amorim's men to a 2-1 loss to the title-chasing Lions, snapping their four-game unbeaten sequence and representing just their second defeat since the start of October.

The result itself was gut-wrenching for the travelling faithful - whose side enter the festive round of fixtures sat seventh in the Premier League table - but the biggest loss of the day was arguably Bruno Fernandes trudging off with a hamstring injury; a true worst-case scenario for his manager.

Since the start of the 2022-23 Premier League season, Man United have played just seven top-flight games without their captain in the starting lineup, and they have failed to win any of them - suffering six losses and earning just one draw in that time.

The damning omens do not end there for Man Utd, who are also winless in each of their last three Premier League home games and are without a clean sheet in 10 since shutting out Sunderland on October 4.

Newcastle were unable to replicate Man United's clean-sheet feat against their Tyne-Wear rivals - albeit thanks to one of their own in Nick Woltemade - but the towering German quickly re-entered the Geordies' good books against Chelsea last weekend.

Woltemade's quickfire brace was no less than he and Newcastle deserved in a dominant first half against the Club World Cup winners, but not for the first time this season, Eddie Howe's troops suffered a worrying capitulation as the Blues fought back to draw 2-2.

Sitting three points and four places worse off than Man United in the Premier League table, the Magpies are yet to clamber out of the bottom half and continue to be plagued by inconsistency, as evidenced by six wins, six losses and five draws this term.

Formerly famed for their defensive resilience under Howe, Newcastle have also failed to shut out the opposition in any of their last 10 matches, and the visitors still have just the one Premier League away win to their name this season.

However, only Arsenal (7) and Crystal Palace (9) have shipped fewer goals on the road than Newcastle's 10, and it has been almost exactly a year to the day that Howe masterminded a 2-0 win for the Magpies at Old Trafford, as part of last season's double over the Red Devils.

Manchester United Premier League form:

Newcastle United Premier League form:

Newcastle United form (all competitions):

Team News

Not only will Fernandes miss "a few games" with the hamstring injury he picked up at Villa Park, one man who would have been a natural replacement - Kobbie Mainoo - has also been ruled out of this match with the calf problem he sustained in training last week.

Instead, Casemiro - back from a yellow-card ban - will be a straight swap for Fernandes in midfield, where Lisandro Martinez may have put his name in the hat for a start over the ineffective Manuel Ugarte after an eye-catching cameo in the West Midlands.

Matthijs de Ligt (back) and Harry Maguire (thigh) are also sidelined for the hosts, while Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are now in full flow at the Africa Cup of Nations.

On Newcastle's end, Howe may receive one fitness boost in the shape of first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope, who has "a chance" of returning from a groin injury to take Aaron Ramsdale's place in between the posts.

However, the Magpies are still grappling with a defensive injury crisis, as Dan Burn (abdominal), Tino Livramento (knee), Kieran Trippier (thigh), Emil Krafth (knee), Sven Botman (back) and Jamaal Lascelles (fitness) remain absent, as does William Osula (ankle).

Teenage talent Lewis Miley should therefore fill in as an auxiliary right-back once again, but Anthony Elanga should not be expected to earn a start against his erstwhile employers.

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Lammens; Yoro, Heaven, Shaw; Dalot, Casemiro, Martinez, Dorgu; Mount, Cunha; Sesko

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Pope; Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon

We say: Manchester United 0-1 Newcastle United

Not only have Man Utd lost six of their last seven Premier League games without Fernandes in the first XI, they have only managed to score four goals in that time, so Amorim's men are hardly well-placed to capitalise on Newcastle's defensive absentees.

Howe's offensive line also strikes more fear into the hearts of defences than Amorim's hit-and-miss attack, and we can envisage this Boxing Day battle being settled by just the one goal - one goal that Newcastle should score.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.