CAN Manchester United make it nine points out of nine on Saturday? Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) takes a look at the odds.
Manchester United v Newcastle | Saturday 12:45 | BT Sport 1
Two wins out of two for Manchester United and sitting pretty in fourth position, but that only tells half the story I think. Let’s be honest they’ve hardly shown a fraction of the dominance and destruction that their city rivals have exhibited over the last two weeks.
Their opening day win against Spurs was perfunctory at best. One shot on target, one goal and very little else to show in what was a poor opening game of the season.
Six days later they participated in a rare Friday night Premier League match as they squeezed past Aston Villa 1-0 in Birmingham. There were just two shots on target in that game and Louis Van Gaal complained afterwards of players still not being fully tuned up for the season.
The midweek 3-1 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League was encouraging and it may be the case that the team are starting to slowly improving. Having said that there’s no way I could possibly back them at 2/5 just now.
Opponents Newcastle showed a lot of gusto in their opening match against Southampton at St James Park. A 2-2 draw was a marked improvement from the horrors of the Carver days but things regressed last week.
To be fair though Newcastle were down to 10 men for long periods in their 2-0 defeat to shit hot Swansea and it’s certainly not a case of ripping it up and starting again.
Steve McClaren’s side are 9/1 to win at Old Trafford, and while that’s unlikely I can see them being competitive. I’ll bank on them keeping it tight and get involved with Under 2.5 Goals at 11/10 with Paddy Power. McClaren will surely aim to set his side up so they’re difficult to break down and an interest in the 7/2 that it’s a draw at half-time and Manchester United win the game may offer some value.
Best Bets
Manchester United v Newcastle – Under 2.5 Goals (11/10 Paddy Power)
Manchester United v Newcastle – Draw/Manchester United Half-Time/Full-Time (7/2 BetVictor)
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