NEWCASTLE welcome Manchester United on Saturday in the Premier League. Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) shares his favourite fancies.
Newcastle vs Manchester United | Saturday 3rd October 2020, 20:00 | Sky Sports Box Office
Given that Manchester United have been woeful at best this season, I imagine the queue of people looking to back them at 4/6 here is very small.
A 6-1 loss at home to Tottenham grabbed the headlines, but United were also second best when Crystal Palace beat them 3-1 at Old Trafford and when they somehow beat Brighton 3-2 at The Amex.
It really is hard to find positives about United’s performances so far this season and my only issue is that everyone knows that and – despite everything – they have a significantly better group of footballers than Newcastle.
Steve Bruce’s side have amassed seven points from their four matches to date but were completely outplayed in two of those matches. They failed to muster a shot on target in a 2-0 home loss to Brighton and then managed just one (through a horrendous penalty decision) in a 1-1 draw at Tottenham, during which their opponents had 12 shots on target.
This is not a new phenomenon though: last season Steve Bruce’s side comfortably outperformed their performance data and I do believe that they are a better side this term, with Callum Wilson a real focal point for their attack.
I don’t, however, feel that 4/1 is a big enough price for me to be frustrated about swerving Newcastle. I did give some consideration to the 5/2 on the home side in the Draw No Bet market but ultimately have decided to take a couple of goalscoring options.
The first one, Callum Wilson, at 39/20 with 888 is fairly obvious. Newcastle’s new signing has scored in three of their four league matches already this season and perhaps most importantly given VAR will obviously be in use, is also his sides penalty taker.
At 27/5 with the same firm Allan Saint-Maximin also looks a great price to me. His pace and trickery is sure to cause a shaky Manchester United backline plenty of problems and he has three goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances.
Saint-Maximin and Wilson have combined for five of Newcastle’s six goals this season and I struggle to see any other goal threat Newcastle offer from open play. I do, however, expect the home side to score and am confident at least one of these two players will provide it.
Best Bets
Newcastle vs Manchester United – Callum Wilson to score anytime (39/20 888)
Newcastle vs Manchester United – Allan Saint-Maximin to score anytime (27/5 888)
