Newcastle United and Sunderland are playing live on the English Premier League schedule on Saturday and the match starts at 8:30 am ET from St. James' Park and will be on TV from the NBC Sports Network as the teams get back in action on the EPL calendar and this comes ahead of the big matchup with Liverpool and Arsenal later in the day.
Check here for the Newcastle United and Sunderland live coverage.
United comes in playing very well and they are now third on the Premier League table and they hope to keep moving in the right direction. The team has had great success at Villa Park and now they get another crack at it before a return match at Old Trafford later in the season. Man U will have a major advantage in this game, as Aston Villa will be without eight players, including Alan Hutton and Kieran Richardson for suspensions. Rooney has been playing well and the team has been as hot as anyone.
After the disaster last season the team is ready to bounce back and now they are in solid position to do it after the way things have gone. Louis Van Gaal and the team got off to a slow start, but now they are in the top three and they plan on staying there for the season. Chelsea has remained in first place and they have played better than anyone, but Man Utd has done an excellent job over recent weeks. The busy December and holiday schedule also gives the team a chance to keep making up points.
Man U will also have to deal with some players missing as Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw and Daley Blind all will be out, while midfielder Angel Di Maria should be back after dealing with a hamstring injury. The team comes in having won six straight games and they have played very well, including their win last week against Liverpool. That matchup was at Old Trafford and came after a win against Southampton away and that was another solid performance.
Coming up Man United has Newcastle as well as Stoke City and Tottenham and the team also has another matchup with Southampton looming. The team has not lost at Villa Park in the last 18 tries in league play and this will give them another chance to do so. Overall the team has won seven straight against Aston Villa and this is another chance to get points for Man Utd.
Aston Villa comes in after a home win earlier and they are looking to win two straight at Villa Park for the first time in a while, but based on the old stats, that's not likely to happen. United now is looking for another away win after winning their last match and they haven't won seven straight since back in 2013 when Sir Alex was still there. Rooney has scored more goals against this team than any other in the EPL in his career and the team will be looking for him to step up yet again.
