Manchester United face Newcastle on Boxing Day aiming to maintain their perfect festive record against the Magpies while desperately seeking to improve their poor recent form without injured captain Bruno Fernandes.
Manchester United welcome Newcastle United to Old Trafford for a high-stakes Boxing Day fixture, marking the 182nd meeting between the two historic rivals.
While United boast a superior overall record with 92 wins to Newcastle’s 48, the recent landscape has shifted dramatically.
The Red Devils have struggled against the Magpies lately, losing four of their last five league encounters, a sharp contrast to their dominant historical form of only four losses in the previous 38 games.
History remains on the side of the hosts specifically for this festive date. According to The BBC, “Manchester United have won all three of their Premier League Boxing Day games against Newcastle.”
These victories occurred under three different managers—Sir Alex Ferguson, Louis van Gaal, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Conversely, Newcastle holds the unfortunate record of the joint-most Boxing Day defeats in Premier League history, having lost 16 times on December 26th.
The primary concern for Ruben Amorim’s side is the absence of captain Bruno Fernandes due to an injury sustained against Aston Villa.
Statistics paint a bleak picture for a United side without their talisman; since the 2022-2023 season, the club has lost six and drawn one of the seven league matches he has missed.
In those fixtures, they have managed only four goals, leaving fans anxious to see if the squad can finally overcome their “Fernandes-dependency.”