Newcastle United’s English head coach Eddie Howe gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on December 20, 2025.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has played down his side’s impressive recent record against Manchester United, insisting it will count for little when the two teams meet at Old Trafford on Friday.
The Magpies head into the Boxing Day fixture having won five of their last six meetings with United across all competitions, including four of their last five Premier League encounters. Their only major setback in that run came in the 2023 League Cup final at Wembley, where they suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Red Devils.
However, Howe rejected suggestions that the Wembley loss had acted as a turning point for his team.
“I don’t know,” he said. “That was a painful moment, but I think you just go against every opponent in an honest way. My process is to see the strengths and weaknesses of the team that we’re playing against.
“You don’t particularly look at the name or who you’re playing as such. You just attack the game, try to highlight their weaknesses and protect your own. The process is the same.”
Despite Newcastle’s recent dominance in the fixture, Howe stressed that past results offer no guarantees.
“Our record has been good against Manchester United in recent games, but that counts for nothing in this game,” he added.
“It will be another independent game. They’ve improved and been really strong in recent matches. Even in their last game at Aston Villa, where they didn’t win, I thought they were very strong and produced a good performance.”
Newcastle finished last season 10 places and 24 points ahead of Manchester United, but head into Friday’s encounter three points behind their hosts after dropping points in a 2-2 home draw with Chelsea on Saturday.
That match saw club-record signing Nick Woltemade score both goals in a dominant first-half display, further strengthening his relationship with Newcastle’s supporters.
“You can see that when he scores, he’s got a really good connection with the crowd,” Howe said. “They’re really happy for him, and he’s happy to embrace the celebrations.
“I thought it was his best performance for the team so far, especially in the first half. You saw his qualities returning — his link-up play, dropping slightly deeper to help us build through the thirds, and most importantly, when the ball arrived in the box, he was there.”
Newcastle will be hoping Woltemade’s growing influence can help them overcome a resurgent Manchester United side in what promises to be a fiercely contested Boxing Day showdown.
