Newcastle v man utd key battles boost

Bruno Guimaraes is never far away from the thick of the action. Not only has he committed more fouls than any other Newcastle player this season, he’s been fouled more than any of his teammates too.

He’ll be locked in battle against Bruno Fernandes in this game and Guimaraes has a track record of getting more involved against big opponents. His overall average is 1.64 fouls per game, but he’s committed 3 against Man City, 4 against Liverpool, and 2 against Arsenal already this season.

He wasn’t just dishing it out in those games either, he drew 4 fouls against Man City, 3 against Arsenal, and 2 against Liverpool. This bet would have landed in all of Newcastle’s other games against top six opposition this season.

Throw Bruno Fernandes into that big game mix and I’m expecting Bruno shaped fireworks to be popping off all over the pitch.

Bruno Fernandes will be directly up against Guimaraes. Having Man Utd’s most prolific fouler (15 so far this season) in a direct tussle with Newcastle’s most fouled player seems like a recipe for the referee’s whistle to be blown.

Fernandes in particular has a habit of getting stuck in when emotions are running high, as we saw against Man City earlier this season when he committed 3 fouls during United’s humiliating home defeat.

The flipside to that, of course, is that in Fernandes we have one of United’s most fouled players coming up against Newcaste’s most prolific fouler in Guimaraes. I expect this contest to go both ways.

It’s a Saturday night under the floodlights at St James Park, two teams who can’t really afford to lose, and two players at the heart of the pitch who never shy away from a battle. With this being the fourth time the two teams have met this calendar year, including a cup final, this is becoming something of a rivalry. I’m going to be backing a highly-charged and combative affair, with both Bruno’s landing blows along the way.