TEAM NEWS: Schweinsteiger makes first Manchester United start

Newcastle head to Old Trafford this lunchtime looking to end a losing streak of seven straight away defeats.

The denizens of Old Trafford have yet to truly impress this season, though, with their two wins being 1-0 matches that could easily be described as “scraped out” because of how hard they found things at times.

However, they face a tough task against Manchester United, who are one of four Premier League teams with maximum points after the first two games. Their fans will feel much better about the state of things if they can get a big win this weekend – but Newcastle won’t exactly be willing to make life easy for them.

The home side came out on the front foot and worked many chances for themselves. Luke Shaw played a neat one-two with Morgan Schneiderlin before driving a low shot at Krul.

United’s second half started just as the first had ended, with Newcastle content to defend deep and wait for their opportunity to break.

Despite often being pinned back by United Newcastle did have moments of attacking promise of their own.

Newcastle have signed Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba, Ivan Toney and Florian Thauvin. The 31-year-old midfielder was introduced after 60 minutes against Tottenham and Aston Villa, but intriguingly replaced Michael Carrick at half-time against Brugge on Tuesday in a substitution that van Gaal said was purely tactical and not due to injury. The Mexican poacher looked lively following his introduction and was unlucky not to open his account for the season, as he was denied by another fine Tim Krul save.

Van Gaal is expected to stick and not twist for this Barclays Premier League clash with the Magpies – now managed by Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant Steve McClaren – but Wednesday’s play-off second leg in Belgium is also looming large and the boss may be tempted into changes. Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Chris Smalling missed the pick of the chances, but ultimately couldn’t find a way past a stubborn Newcastle defence. Now, Newcastle aren’t exactly an elite side, failing to win either of their first two Premier League matches this season, but they’re also not a pushover. Newcastle on the other hand will feel it is a point well earned after a good performance.