'I expect': Paul Merson is looking forward to a good game as he predicts score between Newcastle United and Manchester United
Michael Carrick brings his Manchester United side to St James' Park to take on Newcastle United on Wednesday night with an 8pm kick-off live on TNT Sports.
The two sides are in the middle of vastly contrasting spells of form lately as Newcastle look lost and devoid of ideas, while Man United have been resurgent under Carrick.
However, this is the type of game this Newcastle side actually turns up for, so we could see a performance more in keeping with what we expect from Eddie Howe's side.
It's going to be a challenging game for the Magpies, no doubt about it, but that seems to be all we're getting at this stage of the season.
Paul Merson can't split the two sides as he predicts the score between NUFC and MUFC
In his prediction for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson has had similar thoughts to those of Chris Sutton in that he's expecting an entertaining game that will end with the points being shared.
"Newcastle look very tired. They don't look like the team that usually play at St James' Park. Just look at their recent results at home. 3-2 losses to Everton and Brentford, 2-0 loss to Villa, goalless draw against Wolves. It's not the Newcastle we knew.
"Last season, they had a good combination between Sven Botman and Fabian Schar at the back. They are getting a bit exposed this time around with Dan Burn in there. Don't get me wrong, I like Burn and he's a good player but they are not the team from last season.
"Bruno Fernandes is back to his best under Michael Carrick. But in that game against Crystal Palace, I thought Manchester United were very slow to start. They were fortunate to not concede two goals. If United start like that against Newcastle, they are in trouble!
"Kobbie Mainoo has also stepped up so well in recent weeks. All Carrick has done is put everybody back in their best positions and they are playing freely. It's definitely a good time to be a Manchester United supporter.
"Newcastle are still a threat at home. They need their midfield three to start firing if they want to hurt Manchester United here. I expect an entertaining draw.
"Prediction: Newcastle United 2-2 Manchester United"
An entertaining draw is the popular consensus ahead of tomorrow's meeting
It looks like an entertaining draw is the order of the day for tomorrow night, and honestly, we wouldn't be against it too much.
It's certainly better than another defeat, anyway. Although, as we said yesterday, we'd rather the game was an absolute mess, we managed to scrape the win.
Our European hopes are probably shot already, but if we can keep picking up points, we're not out of it until we mathematically can't make it.
