EPL Betting – Manchester United vs. Newcastle

Manchester United (-250) vs. Newcastle (+750) (Draw +333)

Last weekend, Manchester United only managed a draw in their visit to Aston Villa (1-1). This Friday (Dec. 26), the Red Devils are back at Old Trafford to face Newcastle (10:00 a.m. Eastern).

In the moneyline, United are the heavy favorites to win this meeting, listed at -250. A Newcastle win will pay +750 and the draw +333.

After an impressive seven-game unbeaten streak, Manchester United are now third in the Premier League with 32 points (9-5-3) and +12 in their goal difference. Their last loss came on November 2 against Manchester City (1-0).

Newcastle is ninth in the table with 23 points (6-5-6) and -5 in their differential. Unlike the Red Devils, Newcastle have been tumbling down the standings instead of shooting up. In the last six Premier League games, the Magpies are just 2-1-3.

After drawing Aston Villa, Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal was certainly disappointed with the result.

“Very frustrating. I think we gave two points away. We did not start well enough and because of that they could score a goal,” said Van Gaal. “We kept the ball well in the first half but we did nothing with the ball. In the second half we were better but not as effective as usual. But that is football, sometimes you cannot force that.”

Radamel Falcao managed an equalizer in the second-half against Villa to salvage a point for United.

Van Gaal and company can take comfort in the fact that they will have history on their side come Friday. Manchester United have lost just one of 20 Premier League games they have played on Boxing Day (a.k.a. Dec. 26), posting a 17-2-1 record all-time on the day after Christmas.

(Image credit: Paul (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Image has been cropped.)