Newcastle - Man Utd: Decisive battle for the Champions League

"One thing I need to make clear, is that Man Utd has to play in the Champions League," coach Erik ten Hag said in a pre-match press conference.

The opportunity to win the Premier League with Man Utd is considered to be gone, because if they win all three matches, they are still 13 points behind Arsenal. The goal of defending a position in the top 4 is more suitable for the "Red Devils", and they are the team with the third most chances to do this, after Arsenal and Man City. Performance and position on the scoreboard can give Man Utd peace of mind that they will accomplish their goals, but teams can still win up to 30 points or more, and anything can happen.

Man Utd's remaining schedule in the Premier League this season has three difficult matches, against hosts Newcastle and Tottenham, as well as the away team Chelsea. Depending on the opponent's performance, the Newcastle match may be the most difficult and the "Red Devils" can accept dropping points.

Newcastle have only lost a match at home this season, against Liverpool on February 18. St James' Park is the spiritual fulcrum for "Chich Choè", helping them raise their dream of attending the Champions League next season.

Newcastle's strongest point is the defense, when they conceded the least this season with 19 goals. The second best defensive team is Man City, conceding seven more goals than Newcastle.

The Newcastle defense framework was maintained stably, as goalkeeper Nick Pope and defender Kieran Trippier started the last 26 matches in the Premier League. Defender Dan Burn has also played 26 games, while midfielders Fabian Schar and Sven Botman have only missed two games. These five players are the blocking points that make it difficult for the opponent to concede Newcastle.

Man Utd's defense, meanwhile, is not appreciated, with 35 goals conceded, more than the penultimate team West Ham. No defender of the "Red Devils" has started more than 21 matches this season. The stability in the defense is not as good as Newcastle, when the favorite central defender pair Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez have just started 14 matches together.

Man Utd will be without Casemiro because of a suspension, making their ability to defend from a distance even more affected. However, Newcastle's attack power is not high compared to the current fifth position. Eddie Howe's army has only scored 39 goals, equivalent to the team holding the red light Leicester. They scored fewer goals than expected partly because of the decline of winger Allan Saint-Maximin.

However, Man Utd's attack is also not appreciated, because they have just scored two more goals than Newcastle. The ability to score goals of the "Red Devils" depends entirely on striker Marcus Rashford, when he has scored 16 goals since the beginning of the year, in all competitions. In addition, no other player on the team has scored more than five goals in the Premier League. Striker Wout Weghorst has played eight games in the tournament, scoring just one goal. The Dutchman can be appreciated for his ability to press and defend from a distance, but he often misses good opportunities. The positive point is that the away team is striker Anthony Martial is back and is able to play.

With the above statistics, the score 0-0 is likely to happen, and in fact it is also the result of the closest confrontation between the two teams in the Premier League. With the current situation, both can also be satisfied with a draw, when they both have the right to decide to participate in the Champions League.

However, pundits like Paul Merson, Chris Sutton and Mark Lawrenson think the match will be and the goal will be. In which, the first two think Newcastle will win 2-1, and the last think that the host will win 1-0.

Sutton thinks Sweden striker Alexander Isak will make a difference for the game, Merson considers a draw will not be enough to make Newcastle satisfied, and Lawrenson thinks only Rashford's brilliance can help Man Utd avoid defeat.

Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Saint-Maximin, Isak, Joelinton.

Man Utd: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Sabitzer, McTominay; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Weghorst.