Yoro has committed eight fouls across his 16 Premier League appearances this season, just nine of those have been starts taking his average to 0.82 fouls committed per 90. 

It can be difficult for young centre backs from other leagues to adapt to the speed and intensity of the Premier League, and Yoro has had the same experience in his first season in the English top-flight. He’s looked a little uncomfortable on certain occasions, not due to a lack of talent but more because of a lack of defensive structure, with United still figuring out the system that Ruben Amorim wants to play.

He’s set to feature on the left of a back three here, a role he filled in off the bench in the initial meeting between the sides. United committed 13 fouls on that occasion, with the starting back three committing three of those infringements. Yoro will be up against Jacob Murphy, who was brought down once in the initial meeting,g and he’ll also have duels against Isak, who was also fouled once in the game at Old Trafford and completed more dribbles than any other player (4).

Schar committed three fouls in the initial meeting between these sides at Old Trafford. The centre back tends to be the more aggressive of the Newcastle pairing, as we can see from his foul record this season, he’s averaging 0.97 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this campaign. 

Schar was also shown a yellow card and made more tackles than any other player (three) in the game at Old Trafford. The United front three may be dysfunctional when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net, but the three naturally outnumber the centre backs when facing a back four, this gives them overloads in attacking areas, which can help to draw fouls from the Newcastle centre backs.

Joshua Zirkzee is likely to be Schar’s direct opponent here, he’s averaging 0.81 fouls won per 90 in the Premier League this campaign and could prove problematic for Schar given his tendency to drop into pockets in midfield and support United in the build-up phase. The two players just in behind Zirkzee should also cause Schar problems, which can tempt the Swiss centre back to commit at least one foul here, as he did in the initial meeting between the sides.

Newcastle marginally won the corner match bet in the initial meeting between these sides at Old Trafford, racking up three corners to United’s two. There is likely to be a greater disparity in the corner total here when considering Newcastle’s home record, and extra motivation to get a result here with the race for a Champions League finish very tight at this point.

Newcastle are averaging 5.71 corners per game at St James' Park this season. They’re quite a physical side, so set pieces can be a real avenue to goal, as they’ve shown in recent weeks, most notably Dan Burn’s goal against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final. That was a game in which Eddie Howe very intelligently made the most of Liverpool’s zonal marking system from corners to ensure that Burn had space inside the area. 

Manchester United’s performances on the road have generally been quite poor, they’ve only won four of their 15 trips away from Old Trafford this season. They’re averaging 5.00 corners per game away from home this campaign, which is a pretty solid record, but we can expect this to drop when considering how effective Newcastle are in suffocating the opposition at St James’ Park.

Manchester United have collected 68 cards across their 31 Premier League games this season (2.19 per game). Only five sides have collected more cautions than the Red Devils in the Premier League this season, which is a record borne out of frustration after an underwhelming domestic campaign. 

By contrast, only Manchester City (51) and Brentford (42) have received fewer cautions than Newcastle this season (53). This suggests that the frustration when it comes to the card count will be with the away side. United committed 13 fouls and received one yellow card in the initial meeting between the sides at Old Trafford earlier in the season. 

Alexander Isak has scored 20 goals across his 27 appearances for Newcastle in the Premier League this season. He’s comfortably their top scorer and can add to his impressive tally this campaign against Manchester United here.

Isak scored the opener after just four minutes in the initial meeting between the sides at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign. He was excellent in that game, managing two shots on target in total and causing the United back three all sorts of problems with his ability to drift into channels but also in dropping deep to receive and turn with the ball, something he was really effective at in the initial meeting with more dribbles than any other player on the pitch (four). 

Isak has scored against Brentford since returning from international duty and he tends to save his best performances for St James Park', and these big games in particular. Isak has already scored against Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool this campaign, adding to his headed effort at Old Trafford, which shows how he can step up at the right times. Isak is on penalties for Newcastle, which offers another route to the goal for the Swedish marksman.

Joelinton was awarded Player of the Match for his performance against Manchester United in the initial meeting between the sides at Old Trafford. He scored and remarkably, didn’t commit a foul in that meeting, but his record across the season is really strong. 

Joelinton has committed 53 fouls across his 26 Premier League appearances this season (2.20 per 90), making him one of the most likely players to bring someone down in the Premier League. This record has produced nine yellow cards for Joelinton, which means that he accounts for 17% of the total yellow cards that Newcastle have received this season. 

His combative nature makes him a constant risk for picking up a booking, and he’ll have a lot of bodies to manage here. United play with a box in the middle of the pitch, the two players in behind Joshua Zirkzee or Rasmus Hojlund combine with the midfield anchor to create a zone of activity in which Joelinton is likely to make a few fouls. No Newcastle player has received more yellow cards than Joelinton this season.

Both of these sides have posted similar shots on target averages across the season, but we should see a greater disparity in this metric here with Newcastle pushing for a Champions League finish and United having one eye on their Europa League quarter-final final second leg tie against Lyon. 

Newcastle had four shots on target to United’s one in the initial meeting between the sides, they were able to win the midfield battle far too easily in the first half, which saw them score two goals. Amorim then tweaked his system, which made United more difficult to breakdown, but at the cost of their attacking flai,r which left them quite blunt in the second half on that occasion.

Newcastle have the added benefit of having momentum on their side. They enter this game having won each of their last four games across all competitions, including the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool. They had more shots on target than their opponents in each of these games, which suggests that the trend can continue here against a slightly fatigued Manchester United side.

Newcastle have improved at St James’ Park as the campaign has unfolded. They started the season quite slowly but have recovered to be in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season. Eddie Howe’s side have won eight of their 14 games at home this season, which is a pretty respectable record considering their slow start to the campaign. 

They enter this game with plenty of momentum, having won each of their last four games across all competitions against West Ham, Liverpool, Brentford and Leicester. Manchester United have generally struggled on the road this season, winning just four of their 15 assignments away from Old Trafford this term.

Context is vital here, Newcastle are pushing to finish in the Champions League positions, whilst United hope to qualify for the same tournament via the Europa League, which is likely to mean that Ruben Amorim rotates his side here with the quarter-final tie more important to their season with the league campaign in tatters.