United good enough to get back into top four, insists Benitez
NEWCASTLE boss Rafael Benitez has warned the rest of the Premier League not to write off Manchester United just yet.
Despite their rapid improvement under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, which has seen United brush aside Cardiff, Huddersfield and Bournemouth, the Red Devils will head into 2019 sitting in sixth place and trailing leaders Liverpool by 19 points.
That gap may be too big to close, but Benitez, who will send his side into battle with Solskjaer’s men at St James’ Park tonight, is confident they can still cause problems for the main title contenders.
“Do you think the players that they have after spending the money they did are bad players? They are good players on the pitch, they have performed in the last three games – it is a very good team,” said the Spaniard.
“It is a team that has to be in the top four, that is very clear. They can compete against anyone, Liverpool, Manchester City, anyone.
Biggest
“We are talking about one of the biggest clubs in the world in terms of everything, the players they have, the names they have.
“They are so good, if you want to get points against them, if you want to win against them, you have to perform really, really well.”
Newcastle did just that in February last year when United left Tyneside on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline thanks to Matt Ritchie’s strike.
They also stunned Old Trafford into silence in October when they took a 2-0 lead before Jose Mourinho’s United launched a comeback which saw Alexis Sanchez snatch victory at the death.
Benitez said: “If anything you need a bit of luck. Against the top sides,
you need even more luck. If you make a couple of mistakes, maybe they will score a couple of goals. The top sides punish you.
“Obviously they have won a couple of games now and have more happy people around, but when you are winning, that is normal, it has to be like that.
“Hopefully they will be disappointed after our game and after that they can do what they want. For us, it is a massive game against a good team.
“It doesn’t matter the manager now, they have good players and that is the main thing.”
Solskjaer will have to make a change in his defence, with Eric Bailly beginning a three-match ban following his late dismissal against Bournemouth.
Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo remain sidelined through injury so Phil Jones is set to come in and partner Victor Lindelof in defence.
Solskjaer, meanwhile, has already confirmed Alexis Sanchez will be in the squad for the first time since November after recovering from a hamstring problem, while Marcus Rashford is expected to be available. Newcastle Utd v Manchester Utd, Live, Sky Sports, 8.0