The Red Devils are desperate to bounce back from Wednesday's defeat to Everton but they face another team who lost in midweek. History seems to be on the hosts' side though, Manchester United have not lost at home to Newcastle since February 1972. But David Moyes' team has been struggling at home this season, they got just three wins out of seven games and scored just eight goals at Old Trafford.
Veteran player-coach Ryan Giggs has urged his team-mates to forget the defeat against Everton and get back to the form that saw them go unbeaten for two months before that match. "It's a quick turnaround but we've got to pick ourselves up," he said. "We cannot feel sorry for ourselves for too long. It's a home game and hopefully it will be a different result. We need to get on a run, before this we were on a 12-game unbeaten run. We have to get over this disappointment now."
Michael Carrick remains unavailable but the biggest problem for Manchester United is in attack, with Wayne Rooney suspended after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season against Everton. Robin van Persie has been out of contention since United's 1-0 win over Arsenal on November 10 and his return is still improbable. Newcastle had won four consecutive matches before being hammered 3-0 by Swansea last Wednesday. Newcastle will probably have to do without striker Papiss Cisse who has missed the Swansea game after picking up a heel injury in the warm-up while Hatem Ben Arfa is also doubtful.
Here are the odds for Saturday's match at Bet365:
Manchester United win - 8/15
Draw - 10/3
Newcastle win - 6/1
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