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Some of that aforementioned spirit of Boxing Day ‘63 is most certainly in the air. Wrexham have just beaten Sheffield United 5-3 at the Racecourse Ground. They were 3-1 down after 24 minutes. Such a shame the two teams aren’t reconvening at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
(The Blades drew 3-3 at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day 1963, then lost 2-1 to them at home 48 hours later, seeing you’re not asking.)
The rewards on offer tonight. Seventh-placed Manchester United will leapfrog their old north-west pals Liverpool into fifth place with a win. Newcastle start the game in the bottom half of the table, but should they win by two goals this evening, they’ll nip in ahead of Manchester United and into seventh. Any victory would take Newcastle above Crystal Palace and into eighth.
Manchester United make two changes to their starting XI following the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. Bruno Fernandes is injured, so his captain’s armband is taken by Lisandro Martínez, making his first start since his return from injury. Casemiro takes Fernandes’s place in midfield, returning as he is from a one-match suspension. Leny Yoro drops to the bench.
Newcastle United name the same starting XI that began the 2-2 home draw with Chelsea. Joelinton, who scored here in the Toon’s 2-0 win almost a year ago to the day, is on the bench.
The teams
Manchester United: Lammens, Martinez, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu, Cunha, Mount, Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Zirkzee, Malacia, Yoro, Fredricson, Jack Fletcher, Lacey, Mantato, Tyler Fletcher.
Newcastle United: Ramsdale, Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall, Tonali, Guimaraes, Ramsey, Jacob Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon.
Subs: Pope, Joelinton, Wissa, Barnes, Willock, Alex Murphy, Shahar, Neave, Alabi.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Preamble
The full Boxing Day fixture list for England’s top flight reads as follows:
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Manchester United v Newcastle United
And that’s it. So much for tradition. And yet! Never mind! Because this game could feasibly end up with a scoreline that would slot seamlessly into that 1963 results service, an ersatz pastiche of English football’s most famous festive feelgood farrago. You see, Newcastle haven’t had a clean sheet in the Premier League since the start of October, a run stretching back ten games; Manchester United’s last home fixture ended 4-4, for goodness sake. Newcastle have won five of the last six meetings between these sides, to the aggregate score of 14-4; Manchester United have won all previous Boxing Day meetings between the clubs in the Premier League era to the cumulative tune of 11-5. Fold in the unpredictable manner in which both teams are currently going about their business, and this could be a goal-glut for the ages†. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
†: Apologies if we’ve tempted fate, and the Football Gods, into the delivery of a mind-numbing goalless draw. But what sort of life is this if you can’t whip yourself up into an anticipatory frenzy at Christmas?
