Newcastle vs Manchester United Betting Markets
The bookies anticipate an evenly-matched encounter at St James' Park on Wednesday 4 March. There will be a raucous home crowd cheering on Newcastle United against one of their biggest rivals, with Eddie Howe's side having a fairly solid win rate. The bookies give them a 43% chance of securing the spoils against opposition who don't lose many times on the road this term.
Newcastle's recent form has been pretty solid. At the time of writing, there have been four victories in the space of five games. That includes a 9-3 aggregate win against Qarabag over two matches, with the run starting with a 2-1 success at Tottenham and then a 3-1 FA Cup victory at Villa Park. Even a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium was a close run thing.
This is the third of five successive games at St James' Park for Newcastle and a chance to build up a head of steam. The Magpies are capable of scoring plenty of goals, although clean sheets have been fairly scarce. It may well be that any victory for the home side is a high-scoring affair although they'll clash with a Manchester United team faring well under Michael Carrick.
In fact, the Red Devils haven't lost under their interim manager and look well on course to achieve a top-four finish. United have been hard to beat on the road all season. In eleven of the fourteen away clashes played, they have avoided defeat and they've landed five wins and one draw from their previous six encounters.
United's previous three games have seen them claim a 3-2 win at Arsenal, a 1-1 draw at West Ham and a 1-0 success at Everton. It's hard to bet against them and perhaps this clash will end up all square.
Goals Under/Over
It's no surprise to see Over 2.5 Goals trading as the strong favourite in this game. The bookies think that there's a roughly 65% chance of three or more goals being scored between Newcastle and Manchester United.
At the time of writing, the past eight clashes involving the Magpies have seen the game go over the 2.5 goals line. In six of these encounters, we've seen Over 3.5 Goals and perhaps that is worthy of consideration. Eddie Howe's side can't seem to avoid high-scoring clashes and we know that Manchester United have firepower.
However, the Red Devils' past two away games have been Under 2.5 Goals. They scored a late equaliser at West Ham to draw 1-1 before Benjamin Sesko struck again to land a winner at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Therefore, a compact approach at St James' Park might lead to a low-scoring clash.
BTTS
The bookies think it's very likely that both Newcastle and Manchester United will find the net in this game. The Magpies have been a reliable pick when it comes to BTTS Yes. At the time of writing, the previous nine games involving Eddie Howe's side have seen both sides find the net. This includes a Champions League double header against Qarabag.
We're not just talking about 1-1 draws either. In fact, since Newcastle landed that exact scoreline in a Champions League clash away to PSG, there haven't been any. Newcastle found the net in two defeats against Manchester City as well as a Premier League encounter at Anfield. Therefore, if you fancy Newcastle to win, you should strongly consider BTTS Yes.
As for Manchester United, the evidence is less striking when it comes to both teams scoring. They only scored a late equaliser at West Ham to land a 1-1 draw and then played out a tight clash at Everton before winning 1-0. A few weeks ago, Michael Carrick's team did enjoy 3-2 wins over Arsenal and Fulham.
The bottom line is that the Red Devils have scored in their last sixteen games in all competitions and this goes some way to explaining why the BTTS Yes is trading at such short odds.
First Goalscorer
It's hard to ignore the form of Benjamin Sesko. There have been six goals scored across seven games for the Slovenian who is pressing hard for a start at St James' Park. His physical presence can cause problems for a Newcastle rearguard who aren't keeping any clean sheets right now. However, watch out for team news as he could be on the bench again.
Bryan Mbeumo is probably the best alternative. We know that the former Brentford man will rove forward in attacking positions, with the Cameroon international having bagged three goals across the previous six encounters. Other notable alternatives include Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha.
Newcastle have plenty of players who can find the net. Sandro Tonali has scored three goals in the past four encounters and we also saw Joelinton return to the team and find the net against Qarabag recently. Anthony Gordon scored an incredible four goals away to Qarabag and could be capable of finding scoring chances against a United defence who aren't completely watertight.
Harvey Barnes notched braces against Leeds and Bournemouth in January and was also on the scoresheet against PSV. Although it's been a few games without a goal, we might see the wide man offer a threat in what is likely to be a high-scoring encounter.