'They've got to': Pundit now says Newcastle must beat Man United to keep their CL hopes alive

Saturday night sees Newcastle United host Manchester United in the Premier League in a clash that could shape both club's seasons.

Newcastle United under Eddie Howe's guidance are doing a superb job of keeping pace with the top teams in the league this season given how many injuries his side have picked up. Not to mention the disruption the investigation and subsequent ban of Sandro Tonali will have caused to the squad.

Meanwhile Manchester United are up and down like a yo-yo. One minute they're dominating games and the next they're absolutely woeful and Erik ten Hag's name is on all the back pages as the next manager in line for the chop.

Stuart Pearce still thinks his prediction of Newcastle winning the Premier League can come true

Newcastle will be hoping it's that latter Manchester United side who make the trip to the North East on Saturday for the 8pm kick-off, fresh from losing a two-goal lead, twice, against Galatasaray on Wednesday.

Just before this season got underway, former Newcastle and England defender, Stuart Pearce claimed on TalkSPORT that Newcastle will win the Premier League this season, he has since doubled down on his claim and he's still sticking to it, but feels that Saturday night's game will be crucial for his prediction to come good.

“To be honest with you, if Newcastle have aspirations about qualifying for the Champions League again, let alone my early summer prediction that Newcastle will win the Premier League this year, they’ve got to beat Man United. If they do, chances are they bounce above Manchester United and Tottenham, potentially, and that condenses the top half of the division again.”

This is the toughest season we've had in terms of injuries but we're still not going away

We thought it was an extremely bold claim from Pearce at the time, and with the injuries we've picked up, for us to still be in with a shout of it becoming a reality is a borderline miracle.

Even qualifying for the Champions League again would be a massive achievement this season. With the extra games we've had to play due to being in this year's competition, we've been stretched as far as we possibly can be without breaking.

Anything we achieve this season will be miraculous. The best part is, we're still in every competition. We're not out of the title race, however unlikely that will be, we're about to play in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup, we can still make it out of the Champions League group stage with one game to go and of course we will find out our first FA Cup opponents on Sunday.