With the number of absentees increasing and Manchester United riding a wave of ‘Ronaldomania’, Newcastle United travel to Old Trafford for what feels like Mission Impossible.
The odds are firmly stacked against Steve Bruce winning his second match as a manager against his former club.
But the underdog status could motivate the Newcastle players to produce the game of their lives and spoil Cristiano Ronaldo’s homecoming.
Bruce has famously beaten Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the Red Devils before, but what’s needed for it to possibly happen again?
Sean Longstaff the man for Newcastle
It was 6 October 2019, and on his top-flight debut playing alongside his older brother, 19-year-old Matty Longstaff became the youngest player to score on his Premier League debut for Newcastle in a memorable 1-0 win against The Red Devils (BBC Sport).
Earlier in the game Matty also rattled the crossbar with a rasping 25-yard strike.
The Longstaffs were everywhere that day and dominated against Scott McTominay and Fred.
Sean, now 23, registered four key passes, more than any other Newcastle player, alongside two tackles, two clearances and blocking one shot (WhoScored).
As for Matty, he made more passes (42) than any teammate and contributed in defence by winning the ball back five times (Sofa Score).
Can Sean repeat Matty’s heroics?
With his brother on loan at Aberdeen, Sean will be the only available Longstaff tasked with upsetting United this time.
The Red Devils’ forward line won’t quite lack the same cutting edge this time around as it did in October 2019, especially with Ronaldo in line to make a start.
A front-four of Andreas Pereira, Juan Mata, Daniel James and Marcus Rashford started at St James’ Park, with Mason Greenwood coming off the bench.
Between the quintet, United could only muster three shots on target. With the array of attacking options United now possess, it is almost certain that more than three shots on target will be registered on Newcastle’s goal on Saturday.
Longstaff is going to be coming up against the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes, so his task of dominating the midfield is a daunting prospect.
But it was only three months prior to that 1-0 victory against the Manchester club in October 2019 that Sean Longstaff was grabbing the headlines not Matty when The Telegraph reported that Newcastle had quoted Manchester United £50million for him.
Longstaff has failed to rekindle the form that brought such rumours, but if he produces a man of the match display at Old Trafford and earns Newcastle an unexpected first three points of the season, then it would surpass Matty’s achievement two years ago.
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