Newcastle United have won just once in 52 years against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the top-flight.

It is an ugly statistic with those decades of hurt only separated by Yohan Cabaye's winning goal at Old Trafford back in 2013. Other than that slender victory it has been a case of pain, injustice and hammerings.

There's been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer swiping the legs of Rob Lee as he was about to shoot when clean through for a potential winner in 1998 to Paul Dalglish being denied a penalty in front of the Stretford End during the Ruud Gullit era in a 0-0 draw. Then there was Alan Shearer warning that you don't get penalties at Old Trafford if you are Newcastle after being denied a clear spot-kick in 2004.

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Or what about Sir Alex Ferguson's blatant rule breaking in the 2011/12 season with Newcastle 2-1 up at half-time and on top before the Scot went beserk with Mike Dean and his officials at half-time and the Magpies ended up losing 4-3 to a last minute goal amid more contentious decisions?

There has been much to get worked up about from a black and white point of view. Given the amount of times the Magpies have also been hammered in this fixture, from 5-1 to 6-0 or any of the 4-1s in between 2018 and 2021 there has not been much to shout about in this ill-fated fixture.

Howe knows he has the opportunity to change that and while the Toon boss does have an impressive 3-0 win over Man United in the bag in the Carabao Cup, the chance to serve up a long awaited victory had been dangled in front of Newcastle with the Red Devils in utter disarray.

Howe told Chronicle Live: "Every time you play is an opportunity and I have always had that belief as a player and a manager. You never know what will happen. It is a blank canvas. What can we achieve in this game?

"It will be down to our attitude first. It is a fixture we should try to attack and keep our rhythm and be the best version of ourselves. We will try to grab it if we can."

As Newcastle players left the field after handing out a beating to Aston Villa on Boxing Day, they looked hungry and ready for more. At a time of year in which players sometimes complain about to many games around Christmas, that doesn't seem to be something worrying Howe's Magpies.

Howe said: "Well I hope that we are hungry and we are looking forward to this game. I hope we are ready for it. It is a big test for us and a big opportunity, we will try to grab it if we can."

The big question now is whether Howe and his players can gatecrash the Champions League party or not? Howe said: "There is always an opportunity. This year seems unpredictable. Results you see Chelsea lose…there are upsets.

"It is great for the Premier League. That you never quite know what will happen. Unpredictability brings excitement.

"The challenge for us is to be the team who is consistent, a team who can produce results when not expected. We are going into a run of games now which will really test us and will be one of the deciding factors on where we will finish.

"We go to some tough away grounds but we look forward to those and try to maintain our good form."