Manchester United saw BTTS in their defeat to Aston Villa last time out, marking the fifth consecutive game where Amorim’s side have seen BTTS. They’ve managed to win two of those matches against Wolves and Palace, but have failed to win at Old Trafford in each of their last three matches - seeing BTTS in two of those fixtures.

One of those games was a 4-4 draw against Bournemouth, which typified the chaos that currently engulfs Manchester United. Amorim still hasn’t found balance with his system, which makes United’s matches like basketball games - their defeat against Aston Villa at the weekend was played in this same spirit, with United not able to impose any control on the game.

Newcastle will be optimistic of their chances of scoring here, seeing as Senne Lammens has only managed to keep one clean sheet across his 11 Premier League matches. This isn’t reflective of Lammens’ performances in a United shirt as he’s had to bail them out at times, but more a reflection of the end-to-end nature of United’s recent matches.

Newcastle have seen BTTS in four of their last five matches across all competitions, only failing to score against Sunderland in a gritty derby clash. BTTS also landed in the most recent head-to-head clash with Newcastle, running out 4-1 winners on that occasion. 

Sandro Tonali has committed a foul in each of his last three Premier League appearances, most recently committing a foul against Chelsea in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with the Blues. He picked up a yellow card against Sunderland in the fixture prior, and I think he’ll be in for another physical battle here.

Ruben Amorim has tweaked his 3-4-3 shape in recent matches to introduce a three-man midfield, meaning that we should see each of Newcastle’s midfield trio have a few individual duels. Tonali is likely to be up against Casemiro, Mount, and Ugarte, who combine to commit 6.34 fouls per 90 in the Premier League this term.

Bruno Fernandes is expected to be out for this clash, which should see the United midfield take on a more dogged approach to this game, with Amorim knowing that most games against Newcastle are won in the midfield. 

Tonali is averaging 0.85 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this season, but I can see that rising here with the Italian facing up against a United midfield without their most creative operator, which should lead to a more physical and aggressive approach from the home side in an attempt to match Newcastle’s intensity.

Cunha has come into form over recent weeks, with the Brazilian registering a goal contribution in each of his last three Premier League appearances. He’s scored in back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa, and is Manchester United’s main attacking threat now that Bryan Mbeumo and Amad are away at AFCON.

Bruno Fernandes also went off the pitch injured against Aston Villa, meaning that Cunha will have an even more important role to play here. Cunha has taken 47 shots across his 14 Premier League appearances this season (4.10 per 90) with 18 of these attempts finding the target (1.57 per 90).

Cunha’s performance against Aston Villa last time out was a good example of how willing he is to take aim at goal with eight shots in that clash, three of which found the target. Cunha is pretty relentless when it comes to shooting and will continue to take shots here, even if his radar isn’t completely accurate in the early stages.

Manchester United’s defeat against Aston Villa last time out was their first loss in four matches, and they didn't do too much wrong in that game either, having more shots (15-12) and shots on target (6-4) than Villa, but ultimately losing out to two wonder strikes from Morgan Rogers.

Manchester United have only lost two of their eight home matches this season, representing a significant improvement on their home form from last season. They have failed to win in their last three games at Old Trafford, but two of these have been draws, and they’ve netted six goals across these matches.

Newcastle have only managed to win one of their away matches in the Premier League this season, and have posted some pretty dire attacking displays on the road. They’ve only scored seven goals in their away matches, with just Wolves (2) and Sunderland (4) scoring fewer. 

Manchester United’s defensive record would suggest that they always give you a chance, but Newcastle haven’t accepted those gifts on the road in their previous games, and I think they’ll be really low on confidence after losing against Sunderland, and then giving up a two-goal lead against Chelsea.

Ruben Amorim loves Mason Mount and always tries to get him in the side when the former Chelsea man is fit. He’ll have an important role to play here in the final third for United, with the Red Devils expected to be without Amad, Mbeumo, and Fernandes for this clash.

Mount has always had obvious talent; it’s just been finding consistency in fitness and performance since he joined United, but this is his best run in the side since joining the club, and he looks like a player who can settle in well to this United side.

Mount has scored three goals in the Premier League this season, which is already more than he’s managed across the last two campaigns combined. He hasn’t registered an assist yet, but has created 11 chances across nine starts (1.33 per 90) and looks like a player who is growing in confidence.

Mount has scored two of his three goals in the Premier League this term across his last five matches, with these strikes coming against Wolves and Crystal Palace on the road. 

Mount and United should benefit from the issues that Newcastle are currently facing at the back, with the Magpies being without a clean sheet across their last 10 matches.

At times, it looks like Bruno Guimaraes is the only Newcastle player who actually steps up to the intensity level that Howe demands from his side. 

This was certainly the case in Newcastle’s clash against Sunderland, where Guimaraes looked to be one of the only Newcastle players actually interested in winning the game, also having two shots on target in that game. 

Newcastle’s attacking metrics on the road are poor; they’ve been way too passive in games, with that defeat in the Tyne-Wear derby being an excellent example. 

Only Woltemade (7) has scored more goals for Newcastle in the Premier League this season than Bruno Guimares (5). He’s achieved this tally through 23 shots (1.49 per 90), with 10 of these efforts finding the target (0.65 per 90).

Malick Thiaw has picked up two cards across his last five matches in all competitions for the Magpies, with one of these bookings coming against a side that play with a front three (Leverkusen).

This is significant as I’d expect Thiaw to be outnumbered at times here with the system that United play, as well as having a physical duel with Benjamin Sesko.

Thiaw has picked up two cards in the Premier League this season, which is already as many as he collected in Serie A last season. This is a good example of the increased physical nature of the Premier League which is a step up from what Thiaw has been used to when playing in Italy.

He’s dealt with this pretty well so far, particularly in the air with Thiaw winning 75.7% of his aerial duels. Sesko also has strengths in this department (3.68 aerial duels won per 90) so I’d expect the pair to have quite a duel in this Boxing Day clash, with Thiaw’s chances of a caution increased by the prince of Mount and Cunha who can overload the Newcastle backline.