Man Utd vs Newcastle: Cristiano Ronaldo set for Old Trafford return - Premier League preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Man Utd vs Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.

Team news

Cristiano Ronaldo will make his second Manchester United debut in the Premier League on Saturday against Newcastle United.

Ronaldo, 36, rejoined United from Juventus on a two-year deal last month and the Portugal forward will be looking to add to his 118 goals at the Old Trafford club where he won eight major trophies in six seasons.

Winger Jadon Sancho is also available after recovering from the injury which led to his withdrawal from England squad in the recent international break, but Fred could well be ruled out due to Brazil requesting their Premier League-based players do not participate.

Alex Telles will not feature and Scott McTominay may miss out, but Dean Henderson is making good progress having suffered with prolonged fatigue following Covid-19. Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones and Amad Diallo are out.

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Newcastle are without injured players Callum Wilson (thigh) and Ryan Fraser (ankle) but midfielder Miguel Almiron is available amid an ongoing debate over a collective decision by Premier League clubs not to allow South American players to travel to countries on the UK Government's Covid-19 red-list.

Almiron did not meet up with the Paraguay squad for their World Cup Qualifiers against Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela last week, and it was understood that the Paraguay Football Association had asked FIFA to invoke its five-day rule, meaning he would not be allowed to play for the Magpies this weekend.

Paul Dummett, Jonjo Shelvey (both calf) and Isaac Hayden (knee) are closing in on returns as keeper Martin Dubravka (foot) continues to work his way back to fitness.

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How to follow Ronaldo's second Man Utd debut

Manchester United host Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday September 11 (3pm kick-off).

You can follow the game with our live blog on the Sky Sports website and app - and get details of Solskjaer's starting line-up as soon as the teams are announced at 2pm.

You won't need to wait long to see the match highlights - we'll bring them to you for free from 5.15pm on the Sky Sports website and app, as well as on our Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.

And we'll serve up the best stats, analysis and reaction after the game.

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Last time out...

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Opta stats

• Manchester United have lost just one of their last 36 home league games against Newcastle (W26 D9), with that defeat coming in December 2013 under David Moyes (0-1).
• Newcastle have opened the scoring in six of their last eight Premier League meetings with Manchester United but have gone on to win just two of those (L4).
• After losing three of their first six league games last season (W2 D1), Manchester United have lost just a further three in their subsequent 35 Premier League matches (W21 D11).
• Newcastle have taken 10 points from their last 15 available away from home in the Premier League (W3 D1 L1), though they did lose last time out at Aston Villa. The Magpies had earned just nine points from their previous 42 available on the road (W2 D3 L9).
• Manchester United have scored at least once in each of their last 14 Premier League home games, netting 40 times in total (2.9 per game). However, they've only kept three clean sheets in that run (19 conceded), shipping at least once in each of their last six at Old Trafford.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo's last Premier League appearance was in May 2009 against Arsenal - if he plays for Manchester United in this game it will set a new record for longest gap between appearances in the competition's history (12 years 118 days).
• Man Utd star Cristiano Ronaldo's last Premier League goal came 12 years and 124 days ago, against Manchester City in May 2009. Assuming he scores again for United, only one player has ever had a longer gap between Premier League goals - Matt Jackson (13 years and 187 days between May 1993 and November 2006).
• Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 48 hat-tricks in all competitions in his club career - the first of these came against Newcastle United, in a Premier League match in January 2008.

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