Following a controversy coated 2-0 victory at home to Sunderland on Sunday, Louis van Gaal will be hoping for another fairly straightforward win with a trip to Tyneside to face Newcastle United, as the Red Devils look to consolidate their bid for a Champions League place, after losing to Garry Monk’s Swansea 2-1 for the second time this season.
Both sides come into the game off the back of a clean sheet and a home victory at the weekend, despite equally mundane displays. Yet again, van Gaal bemoaned his side’s lacklustre efforts but Adnan Januzaj did provide encouraging runs that caused the Sunderland defence problems. John Carver, Newcastle head coach, opted for a front four against Aston Villa yet very little was created for the goal scorer, Papiss Cissé, who seized upon a Jores Okore mistake to score, in what proved to be, the winner and as he continued his impressive scoring rate.
Van Gaal will be hoping for a comfortable victory at St James’ Park, in order to fuel what should prove to be a challenging month, with matches against fourth place rivals Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Dutchman could potentially field the same 11 that started at the weekend, as the fitness test will probably come fractionally too early for Phil Jones to return to the back line with both Michael Carrick and Robin Van Persie ruled out.
Massadio Haidara picked up a knock after Newcastle’s hard fought victory at the weekend but will be given every chance to make the team sheet and Jonas Gutierrez could see some minutes after making the bench against Villa following a successful recovery from cancer.
