It’s early days in the Premier League, but Manchester United and their fans are already salivating over their chances of returning to the title hunt. They’re won both of their matches so far this season, putting them behind league-leading Manchester City only on goal differential.
Manchester United vs. Newcastle 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
Manchester United’s captain has been unimpressive early this season. That needs to change to make sure they beat Newcastle.
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The denizens of Old Trafford have yet to truly impress this season, though, with their two wins being 1-0 matches that could easily be described as “scraped out” because of how difficult they found things at times. Their fans will feel much better about the state of things if they can get a big win this weekend -- but Newcastle won’t exactly be willing to make life easy for them.
Newcastle are winless, with a draw and a loss under their belts so far in the young season. Steve McClaren will be eager to lead his side in a quick turnaround, though, and even through they’re struggling with injuries, they’ve still got the ability to put up one hell of a fight. Newcastle might face long odds in this match, but they’re going to do everything they can to upset Manchester and steal their first win of the season.
Key player -- Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Manchester have been winning their early matches this season, but that’s been more in spite of their captain’s performances than because of them. In a word, Rooney has been lacklustre this season, often not making needed runs and displaying a horrible first touch that’s killed a number of promising attacks for his team. Now, Newcastle aren’t exactly an elite side, failing to win either of their first two Premier League matches this season, but they’re also not a pushover. If Manchester want to guarantee themselves a win, Louis Van Gall must find a way to get Rooney playing better, or they could easily struggle to break down Newcastle’s defense.
New player to watch -- Florian Thauvin (Newcastle)
Thauvin probably isn’t ready to start yet, but he brings game-changing potential to Newcastle’s attack both off the bench in this match and as a starter for the rest of the season. Seeing what he does when he takes the pitch at some point in his Premier League debut will be interesting to see, because how quickly and effectively he adjusts to his new team and league could go a long ways towards determining just how good -- or not good -- Newcastle wind up being this season.
Manchester United injuries and suspensions
Out: David De Gea (coach’s decision), Victor Valdes (coach’s decision), Phil Jones (blood clot) In doubt: none
Newcastle injuries and suspensions
Out: Steven Taylor (Achilles’), Rob Elliot (thigh), Curtis Good (hip), Emmanuel Riviere (knee), Paul Dummet (hamstring), Sylvain Marveaux (groin) In doubt: Moussa Sissoko (groin), Siem De Jong (calf)
Aside from their seemingly-interminable goalkeeper drama, Manchester United are in pretty good shape health-wise. The same cannot be said of Newcastle, who are for sure without several key rotation players and quite possibly will have to do without a pair of starters, including the heartbeat of their attack in Moussa Sissoko.
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 7:45 a.m. ET, 12:45 p.m. local
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), NBC Universo (U.S. - Spanish), TSN 1, 3, 4 (Canada), BT Sport 1, BT Sport Ultra HD (U.K.)
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.)
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