“Newcastle are a different kettle of fish this season” – Mark Lawrenson predicts the winner of Manchester United vs Newcastle with confidence

Football pundit and former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson believes Manchester United will beat Newcastle United this weekend. The Red Devils will host the Magpies at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday, October 16.

Erik ten Hag's side will enter this contest on the back of a 1-0 win in the UEFA Europa League over Omonia Nicosia on Thursday (October 13). Their forwards struggled to finish some excellent chances and they ultimately needed a last-minute winner from Scott McTominay to pick up all three points.

Newcastle, meanwhile, will enter this match after a 5-1 thrashing of Brentford in their most recent match, which took place on October 8. Eddie Howe's team utterly dominated the Bees in a lopsided Premier League encounter at St. James' Park.

Despite their impressive display, Lawrenson believes Manchester United may have a little too much for the Magpies. Predicting a 2-0 win for the hosts, he wrote in his column for Paddy Power News:

"Newcastle come here on the back of a couple of very good wins. Manchester United will rotate a lot during the week so they’ll be fresh."

It's worth noting that the former Liverpool centre-back's prediction came out prior to the Red Devils' match against Omonia. Ten Hag ended up making just three changes to the XI that beat Everton last weekend.

Christian Eriksen and Luke Shaw were rested, while Anthony Martial, who suffered an injury against the Toffees, missed the game. Fred, Tyrell Malacia and Cristiano Ronaldo made it into the line-up in their places.

Lawrenson added:

"Newcastle are a different kettle of fish this season, especially on the road, and they’ve got some good defensive players but I fancy a home win here."

Newcastle are currently sixth in the league standings with 14 points from nine matches. Their upcoming opponents are just a point ahead in fifth place, having played a match lesser.

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Manchester United have dominated Newcastle United in recent years

Manchester United have had the upper hand against Newcastle United in recent years. The Red Devils haven't lost a Premier League fixture to the Magpies at Old Trafford since 2013.

The 20-time top-flight champions have won four of their last five league meetings against Newcastle since a 1-0 loss at St. James' Park in October 2019. In those five games, they have scored 16 goals and conceded just five.

The two teams played out a couple of entertaining encounters in the Premier League last season. Manchester United emerged 4-1 victors at Old Trafford in Cristiano Ronaldo's first league match back with the club. The return fixture in Newcastle ended in a 1-1 draw.