Manchester United vs Newcastle

Manchester United and Newcastle lock horns in this EFL Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London very early Beijing time. Despite the fact that this competition is far from a main priority for both teams we can expect a somewhat high-class and entertaining battle here between these two top-teams! Both, as almost all my fans probably are aware of, play in the English Premier League, the best football league on the planet. Newcastle have finally returned to the top of English football after very many years of bad results – sometimes even having to fight to avoid relegation.. They can mainly thank the current, very rich owners for this. However, I want to highlight the massive role of their excellent but still often under-rated manager Eddie Howe! Newcastle have been particularly strong defensively and have allowed just 15 goals in the Premier League so far! Arsenal, who currently top the standings have conceded 23, perhaps the best team in the World, Manchester City 25 and ManU 28! Sure, their number of expected goals allowed (xGA) is bigger than 15 but their defense does have excellent structure, the defenders do not make many silly individual mistakes and the defenders take part in defending as well. They play better as a team than the list of players would suggest. Furthermore, according to my sources they do have a very good team spirit at the moment.

ManU have been far from their glory that they experienced under the legendary Alex Ferguson over a decade ago. Yes, I believe they will be motivated here even in this minor competition as ”a trophy is a trophy” and their manager Dutch ten Hag is a very demanding guy. Even so, Newcastle are the smaller club and with such a long time without much success I give them a small edge in terms of motivation! In terms of offensive quality ManU should have a small edge as they have scored several more goals in the Premier League. In terms of expected goals the difference between the two teams is small though. However, they will be missing the creative Danish midfielder Eriksen which does hurt a lot. Striker Marcus Rasford has been on fire lately and is the most important player for the ”Red Devils” at the moment! Worryingly for Manu he hinted at a possible injury concern on social media after limping out of the clash with Barcelona on Thursday. ManU have had just two full days to recover from this tough match. This is far from optimal at professional football and Newcastle have an edge here last they last played on the 18th of this month. Rashford will no doubt do everything in his power to be fit for the final but might not be at his best – or play for the full 90 minutes - or the possible extra time. Ten Hag does not rotate his squad a lot so fatigue could be an issue here.. Newcastle have their challenges in terms of absentees as well. For example their goalkeeper Pope is out due to a red card he received against Liverpool last week. They lost this game 0-2 at home but would have deserved at least a point! I want to highlight that it was only their second defeat in the Premier League this season! Newcastle recorded 2.12 in expected goals (xG). Liverpool's number was 1.79. Loris Karius, who has not played for an English club since the horrible night in Kyiv for the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid. Liverpool lost this massive game mainly because of his mistakes. However Bruno Guimaraes has served his suspension and can return to an injury-hit midfield – this is very important for Newcastle. In terms of expected points (xPTS) ManU have been marginally better this season with 42.98 points. Newcastle's number is 41.87. ManU are slim favorites here but the wise bet is Newcastle not to lose in regulation time (+0.5 goals handicap option). I cannot really understand why the bookmakers see ManU as solid favorites here.. Well, of course they have more famous players and much more fans globally and this does affect the odds..

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北京时间凌晨，曼联和纽卡斯尔在伦敦温布利体育场举行的这场EFL杯决赛中交锋。尽管这场比赛对两支球队来说都不是最重要的，但我们可以期待这两支顶级球队之间的一场高水平和有趣的战斗!几乎我所有的球迷都知道，他们都效力于英超联赛，这是地球上最好的足球联赛。在经历了多年的糟糕战绩后，纽卡斯尔终于回到了英格兰足坛的巅峰，有时甚至不得不为保级而战。他们主要要感谢现在非常富有的老板。然而，我想强调的是他们出色但仍然经常被低估的主教练埃迪·豪的巨大作用!纽卡斯尔的防守特别强大，到目前为止，他们在英超联赛中只丢了15个球!目前排名第一的阿森纳丢了23球，可能是世界上最好的球队，曼城25球，马努28球!当然，他们的预期失球数(xGA)大于15个，但他们的防守确实有很好的结构，防守者不会犯很多愚蠢的个人错误，防守者也会参与防守。作为一个团队，他们的表现比球员名单所显示的要好。此外，根据我的消息来源，他们目前确实有很好的团队精神。

马努已经远离了他们在传奇的亚历克斯·弗格森十年前所经历的辉煌。是的，我相信他们会在这里被激励，即使是在这个小比赛中，因为“奖杯就是奖杯”，他们的经理Dutch ten Hag是一个非常苛刻的家伙。即便如此，纽卡是较小的俱乐部，这么长时间没有取得太大的成功，我认为他们在动力方面有一点优势!在进攻质量方面，马努应该有一点优势，因为他们在英超联赛中打进了更多的球。但就预期进球而言，两队之间的差距很小。然而，他们将失去富有创造力的丹麦中场埃里克森，这让他们很伤心。前锋马库斯·拉斯福德最近状态火热，是目前红魔最重要的球员!让马努担心的是，他在周四与巴萨的比赛中一瘸一拐地离开后，在社交媒体上暗示他可能受伤。ManU只有整整两天的时间从这场艰难的比赛中恢复过来。这在职业足球中远非最佳，纽卡斯尔在这里有优势，他们最近一次比赛是在本月18日。拉什福德毫无疑问会尽他所能来适应决赛，但他可能不会处于最佳状态——或者打满90分钟——或者可能的加时赛。十魔女没有轮换他的阵容，所以疲劳可能是一个问题。纽卡斯尔在缺勤方面也面临着挑战。例如，他们的门将波普因为上周对阵利物浦的比赛中吃到一张红牌而缺席比赛。他们在主场以0:2输掉了这场比赛，但至少应该得到一分!我想强调的是，这是他们本赛季在英超的第二次失利!纽卡斯尔的预期进球数为2.12。利物浦的数字是1.79。洛里斯·卡里乌斯，自2018年基辅对阵皇家马德里的欧冠决赛那场可怕的夜晚以来，他就没有为任何一家英格兰俱乐部效力过。利物浦输掉这场重要的比赛主要是因为他的失误。然而布鲁诺·吉马aes已经结束了禁赛，可以回到受伤的中场——这对纽卡斯尔来说非常重要。在期望积分(xPTS)方面，ManU本赛季以42.98分略微好一些。纽卡斯尔的数字是41.87。马努在这里是微弱的热门，但明智的赌注是纽卡斯尔不会在常规时间输掉比赛(+0.5个进球的不利选项)。我真的不明白为什么博彩公司认为马努是最受欢迎的。当然，他们有更多的著名球员和更多的全球球迷，这确实影响了赔率。