Man Utd suffer nightmare injury ahead of Newcastle clash - Another key man ruled out?

Last December, we rocked up to Old Trafford and delivered one of our best performances of the campaign, producing a convincing 2-0 win against a hapless Manchester United side.

We would go as on to complete the league double over the Red Devils, but this season feels a lot different: we’ve played five of the ‘Big Six’, all at home, and only have five points to show from it.

Ruben Amorim’s side meanwhile have shown notable improvements in comparison to their torrid 2024 form. So we’ll need a big performance on Boxing Day if we want to bring all three points home to the North East.

Thankfully, following Sunday evening’s game between Man Utd and Aston Villa, we may have just been handed a significant boost…

Man Utd star out of Boxing Day clash

Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes was hooked at half time in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Villa Park, with their talisman unable to continue after suffering a hamstring injury.

Subbed off for Lisandro Martinez, the Man Utd midfield simply couldn’t create another big opportunity, and it doesn't sound like he'll be back anytime soon, with Amorim fearing the 'soft tissue' injury will 'take a while' to heal.

Acknowledging how important Fernandes is to his team’s success, Amorim spoke after the loss to Villa, stating:

“Everyone who watched the game knows that we were the better team, but we were unlucky, especially after Bruno Fernandes went off.”

"It's a soft tissue, so it is going to take a while (to recover from)."

The Portuguese star, universally renowned for his exceptional injury record, has only missed two competitive games through injury for his club.

With Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui away on AFCON duty, and centre-backs Matthijs De Ligt and Harry Maguire also struggling, Amorim will be forced to field a weakened side missing four or five starters on Friday.

We would expect that Casemiro, returning from a one game suspension, will start on Boxing Day, with one of Manuel Ugarte or Martinez likely to start alongside the Brazilian.

We’ll be hoping that Amorim once again opts for a two man midfield like we saw the Red Devils play against us last season at Old Trafford, as our three man trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton simply overwhelmed Man Utd at every opportunity.

Joelinton was fully rested for our recent draw against Chelsea, so a big physical game at Old Trafford would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce him to the starting XI if he's ready to return.