BBC Sport pundit explains why Newcastle will BEAT Man Utd tonight

Premier League football returns tonight as Newcastle United take on Manchester United in the 8pm kick-off at Old Trafford.

The hosts have lost Bruno Fernandes to injury and Bryan Mbeumo to AFCON, making this a potentially great time to play Ruben Amorim's Red Devils, who are playing much better these days despite winning only two of their last eight.

As for Newcastle, we were outstanding in the first half of last Saturday's meeting with Chelsea, racing into a 2-0 lead, but our tendency to drop points from winning positions reared its head again as we conceded twice in the second half and drew the game.

So, keeping in mind Man Utd's absent players, the form and our mixed bag of recent away results at Sunderland, Bayer Leverkusen and Everton, it's a tough one to call.

Pundit Chris Sutton has weighed in with his prediction and pre-match thoughts, explaining why he's backing Eddie Howe's Mags to edge it in a tight affair in Manchester.

Speaking to BBC Sport ahead of tonight's game, Sutton said:

"Manchester United got a bit of praise for their performance against Aston Villa, even though they were beaten.

"The key to how this game goes is what they do without Bruno Fernandes, and how they are going to cope without him. You look around Ruben Amorim's squad and he does not seem to have a lot of leaders in there.

"It will be interesting to see if Amorim plays centre-back Lisandro Martinez in that holding midfield role, the same job he did when he came on for Fernandes against Villa, because he could provide that leadership they will need.

"Newcastle United will be absolutely sick that they let a two-goal lead slip against Chelsea last week, while their away record has a lot of room for improvement - they have won only one of their eight away league games so far.

"Manchester United are three points and four places above them in the table, but they are missing a few players at the Africa Cup of Nations and, in my mind, Newcastle United have the better squad anyway.

"Because of that, I am going to back Eddie Howe's side here. There won't be many goals, though, and they may only need to score one to win it.

Sutton's prediction: Manchester United 0-1 Newcastle United

While I disagree that it will be a game of very few goals, I do back us to get the win...just!

Fernandes and Mbeumo are two huge misses and I'm hoping we'll be buoyed by that first half display against Chelsea, and determined to put things right after the way we let it slip.

As state in our pre-match preview, I'm going for a 2-1 win to take back to Tyneside!