It does not look good for Man United heading into this one, with Erik ten Hag’s side having faced four of last season’s top six already and having lost four times.

Whilst the remainder of their games (aside from a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace) have seen them secure three points against so-called lesser sides, they have been unable to compete with the cream of the crop in the Premier League to date.

Tottenham beat them 2-0, before Arsenal, Brighton and Man City all put three past United. Newcastle will surely fancy their chances, with their only home loss this season coming in a crazy game against 10-man Liverpool early in the season.

They have thrashed Villa 5-1 and beaten Arsenal 1-0 at St. James’ Park already this season, and they look a great bet to get the win here. We like the look of Newcastle to win outright, but those seeking some insurance may go for the draw no bet option instead at 1.40.

Predictions:

🏆 Newcastle draw no bet @ 1.40

🏆 Newcastle to win @ 1.91

For the hosts, Alexander Isak is the obvious choice, and the data backs this up. The Swedish striker has two goals in two games since returning from injury, and with Callum Wilson out has an excellent opportunity to stake his claim to being the club’s number one option up front.

Isak has managed a shot on target in all of his last six starts (excluding the Dortmund game in which he went off injured after 14 minutes) and has had two or more shots in general in five of these six starts.

Backing Newcastle’s number 14 to notch at least another shot on target and rack up two shots both look like great bet builder options here.

For United, we like the look of Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentine youngster has made that left-wing spot his in recent weeks, starting six games in a row, and he has been a real spark going forwards for a side which has struggled to create.

His overhead kick at Everton was spectacular, and following this up with a goal away at Galatasaray shows the kind of form he is in right now. He has had a shot on target in four of his last six and has taken at least one shot in five of his last five.

Kieran Trippier will be a tough matchup for Garnacho, but if he can get the ball in behind, his pace should allow him to leave the Newcastle skipper for dead and get a shot away. He’s not afraid to shoot from range either, especially if Newcastle take the lead at any point, so he looks a very solid option here.

Predictions:

🎯 Alejandro Garnacho to have 1+ shots on target @ 1.91

🎯 Alexander Isak to have 1+ shots on target @ 1.25

Man United have lost the corner battle in every away game this season bar one, away at Spurs on the second weekend of the season.

They have been averaging 4.5 corners per game during this stretch and have had four or more corners in five of six away games in the league, the one exception being away at the Emirates. For this reason, even though their corner numbers are low, backing them to have 4+ corners at 1.50 looks a nice value selection.

Newcastle meanwhile have been averaging 4.85 corners per game at home, although this is dragged down massively by not winning a single one against Arsenal and jumps up to 5.7 per game if you omit that game.

They have had more corners than their opponents in four of their seven home games, and have had at least four corners in six of seven, and five or more in five of seven.

Despite being heavy favourites on the corner match bet market, we still think backing Newcastle here offers good value, as does backing them to have at least six corners against a United side who have averaged 7.67 corners conceded in their six away league fixtures to date.

Predictions:

🚩 Over 3.5 Man United corners @ 1.50

🚩 Over 5.5 Newcastle corners @ 1.80

🚩 Newcastle corner match bet @ 1.53

Teams that play at grounds with big atmospheres tend to rack up more cards as the energy from the crowd filters down to players crashing into tackles.

Newcastle are no exception, averaging 2.9 cards per game at home so far this season. This only gets worse in the biggest games too, with their three games against last season’s top six at home so far seeing an average of 4.33 cards per game, and at least four bookings for the Magpies in each game.

Despite these huge card numbers however, they have seen more cards than their opponents just once all season at home, being shown five cards to Arsenal’s one at the start of November.

Man United are another side whose booking numbers shoot up in big games. They have been shown three bookings on the road just twice this season, but this was in their two away games against the so-called big six, at Arsenal and Tottenham.

They did also pick up four bookings away at Man City, and with Newcastle expected to win here, their players can get petulant towards the end of bad losses. If Newcastle can make this comfortable, Man United could easily pick up cheap yellows for bad fouls and dissent towards the end of the game.

Either way, plenty of cards look set to fly here.

Predictions:

🟨 Over 2.5 Newcastle cards @ 1.95

🟨 Over 5.5 match cards @ 1.87

🟨 Over 2.5 Man United cards @ 1.57