Keys to a Boxing Day win for Newcastle over Manchester United

Newcastle United will look to defeat Manchester United on Boxing Day. We take a look at how they can.

Over the weekend, Newcastle United got past Crystal Palace by way of a Miguel Almiron match-winning goal. Next up, they face a Manchester United side that lost to Watford on Sunday. How can Newcastle United hand the Red Devils a second straight loss? We take a look at some keys to a Magpies’ win.

Test de Gea Early

We all saw David de Gea’s howler over the weekend on Watford’s first goal. While that was an extreme example, the Spanish goalkeeper has not been himself for a while now and has six errors leading to goals over last season and this year.

Newcastle United are not a team of elite shooters, but they will need to put some efforts on frame early. Instead of trying to force a final pass for a better chance, they should settle for some shots from distance just to make the United shot-stopper make saves.

Crisp Crosses

Against Crystal Palace, Newcastle United struggled to cross the ball accurately into the box. With two tall, strong strikers, the crossing needs to be much better against Manchester United. Getting the ball to Andy Carroll and/or Joelinton in the air will be key to success in the attack.

Allan Saint-Maximin and Matt Ritchie, two of Newcastle’s best crossers, will be out, but Jetro Willems and DeAndre Yedlin could find their way back into the starting lineup to give a boost to the delivery from the wings.

Be Prepared for Pace

While the Red Devils don’t have an elite attacking unit, there is some pace in the attack for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad. The Newcastle United backline will need to be ready to deal with that speed.

Javier Manquillo and Fabian Schar did very well vs. Wilfried Zaha over the weekend. Manchester United has more speed dispersed across multiple players and it will take a collective effort from all of the central defenders in holding a high line and not allowing the pacey attacking players to run in behind.