Manchester United and Newcastle United meet for the second time in a fortnight when the Red Devils travel to the Sports Direct Arena on Sunday.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side beat the Magpies 2-1 in a League Cup third round tie on September 26, but have since lost in the Premier League at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

The visitors continue to have defensive troubles with captain Nemanja Vidic and Phil Jones sidelined, but Jonny Evans should feature after shaking off a dead leg.

Wayne Rooney is another who could be named in the starting XI after stepping up his recovery from injury with 90 minutes against CFR Cluj in midweek.

Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young and Chris Smalling are all unavailable, but the latter has returned to training following his broken foot.

Newcastle trio Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa are all expected to start after being rested for their Europa League win over Bordeaux on Thursday.

The Magpies have their own defensive problems, with Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor both sidelined with hamstring and calf injuries respectively.

Steve Harper will continue in between the posts for Alan Pardew's side, with other first-team goalkeepers Tim Krul and Rob Elliot both suffering with injuries, but Yohan Cabaye could return after missing the 2-2 draw with Reading last weekend.

Recent form:

Newcastle: DWDDL

Man United: LWWWW

Possible lineups:

Newcastle: Harper; Simpson Perch, Williamson, Santon; Ben Arfa, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez; Cisse, Ba

Man United: Lindegaard; Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Carrick, Scholes, Nani, Kagawa; Van Persie, Rooney

Sports Mole says: 1-1