After two postponements, and an endless total of 16 days, it's finally time for Ralf Rangnick's United team to take to the pitch once more. We're over three weeks on from the German's first match in charge of the club, yet we've only seen a pair of representative matches within what should be the most congested period of the season.
Following on from an admittedly underwhelming 1-0 win away to Norwich on 11th December, a multitude of Covid-19 cases amidst first team players and staff caused a plethora of isolation periods inflicted on squad members. Training was halted as matches away to Brentford and at home to Brighton were called off, with Rangnick's men only back on the grass at the start of last week - over a week on from the victory at Carrow Road.
There's no point diving too deep into the details, though. The entirety of the chaos' details have been covered and spoken about widely enough. It's in the past for now, and it's time to get back down to business.
Well, it's actually hard to paint a picture without using the recent Covid-19 carnage to put things into context. Theoretically, this should be gameweek 19, the halfway point. Instead, United play their first reverse fixture of the campaign two games down on matchday 17. As the calendar panned out, Burnley would still be an unplayed opponent after this second encounter with Newcastle, though Brentford and Brighton have become a further two sides that United are yet to face.
The whole league is in slight disarray, with near enough everybody effected by now. Postponements are still ravaging the league, with three of the nine Boxing Day matches cancelled. Let's be frank, the whole of English football is in some disarray - it's hard for this preview not to be centred around the developments of the last two weeks.
No matter, the league vow to continue. If you have 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper, you play. Simple.
United are now fortunate in that respect. There were a mere nine players available to face Brentford, reduced by a further two by the prospective weekend fixture against Brighton. It remains unclear who recorded a positive test, but it is clear that the group are pretty much over the issues endured.
"We have 25 players," Rangnick said on Thursday. "Pogba’s the only one missing out, everyone else is on board. The development of the last week is extremely positive."
Both Raphael Varane and Edinson Cavani are confirmed to have travelled to Newcastle, whilst Victor Lindelof seems to be all clear after a scare through a chest issue against Norwich two weeks ago.
United were able to afford a day off on Christmas Day amidst the strange deviation from a traditional Boxing Day fixture, with the side training once more before making the north-eastbound trip.
"As far as I could see in training, they're all in good shape. All the players did their homework, they had their schedule to train at home and stuck to that schedule and that programme. I can say most of them, if not all of them, might be available but I might have to make some difficult decisions who will be in the squad and the starting XI."
Speaking about the players' return to training, Rangnick exclaimed that, "Physically they look good. The energy level was high, all the players were fully engaged and everybody was on board. I’m not worried about physical state the team is in - they seem to be extremely fit.”
"We did a lot of work in between together with my coaching staff, who prepared some video footage - we have started to show this video footage to them."
Newcastle are similarly clear of any Covid-19 cases ahead of Monday's night-time kickoff. Emil Krafth and Javier Manquillo are back in contention following illness, though Isaac Hayden is suspended and Federico Fernandez, Paul Dummett and Jamal Lewis are all sidelined.
The reverse fixture in September was certainly a memorable one, with Old Trafford marking the return of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. The returning number seven secured a brace either side of a Manquillo strike, with Bruno Fernandes and Jesse Lingard solidifying things in the latter stages en route to a 4-1 rampage.
Things have changed since. Although they remain perilously inside the bottom three, Newcastle have seen the approval of their Saudi-based takeover - this has seen them theoretically become the richest football club worldwide. Soon after the monumental chance, it was goodbye for Steve Bruce at the helm. After his own Covid-19 issues, Eddie Howe took to the dugout.
Confined to a hotel room, the former Bournemouth boss saw his new side draw 3-3 to Brentford in an epic first match under his tenure. He tasted defeat to Mikel Arteta's revitalised Arsenal as he first set foot in the dugout in charge of the Magpies, only able to grab a point from relegation rivals Norwich at St James' Park in subsequence. Three points did come against Burnley, though they have since lost to Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester City since (conceding eleven times and scoring only once). One win in seven isn't good reading.
Both Norwich and Newcastle are only three points from moving out of the relegation zone, but they have two games in hand on 17th place Watford. It's the first time that Newcastle have ever spent Christmas Day in the relegation zone, but it should come as no surprise; they have let in 41 goals, their most after 18 games of a season since 1960 (when they went on to be relegated).
Monday night marks the 150th top-flight meeting between United and Newcastle, with the former bidding to match their club record of five successive league wins against the Magpies. Monday's hosts have only won three of the last 17 league encounters between the sides, all by a slender 1-0 scoreline. Furthermore, they have lost all 10 league matches against teams in the top half of the table this term.
Rangnick has certainly already rectified some of United's defensive woes, keeping a clean sheet in both league matches so far - even though he is yet to see his side score more than once. They remain the only club not to have scored in the opening 15 minutes of a Premier League match this season.
United come into the match in seventh having commenced the weekend in sixth, but the differences in matches played by teams makes it almost pointless to look to deeply at the standings. One thing is for sure, it will be fantastic to see the reds back in action again after over half-a-month without a match.
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