Sunderland vs Manchester United preview

Saturday February 13, 2016 12:45pm – Stadium of Light

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Sunderland: DLDLW

Manchester United: DWLWD

Sunderland’s quest for survival will continue on Saturday when they welcome top four challengers Manchester United to the Stadium of Light in the Barclays Premier League.

Sunderland still stranded

Sunderland picked up a valuable point away to Liverpool last weekend but remain four points adrift of safety in the Premier League. With Norwich plummeting rapidly, it looks increasingly likely that Sam Allardyce’s men will have to overhaul northeast rivals Newcastle if they are to retain their top-flight status for another year.

The Black Cats were two goals behind with eight minutes to go when they began their comeback against Liverpool. Their achievements were understandably overshadowed by the mass walk out by the home fans, who were protesting against new ticket price proposals – however, it was a well-earned point for the visitors.

Even a win against Manchester United will not be enough to lift the Mackems out of the bottom three and defeat could potentially leave them just a point above Aston Villa if the bottom-ranked club manage to win at home to Liverpool.

Allardyce will have to make do without Jeremain Lens, Adam Matthews and Seb Larsson for thos clash.

United in danger of missing out on top four

With a six-point gap separating them from the top four, Manchester United know that a win against Sunderland is vital this weekend. With the top four teams all in pretty good form, it already looks like an uphill task for the once-mighty club.

Louis van Gaal has spent big but delivered little in his time at the club. and has already lost the faith of much of the fan base. A win on Saturday may ease some of the pressure from the Dutch boss’s shoulders but anything other than a top four finish will be seen as failure for the experienced coach.

The Red Devils have one just three of their last 12 Premier League matches and come into this game on the back of a 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

The visitors still have several players on the sick list including Ashley Young, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phil Jones, Marcus Rojo, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia.

Prediction

Five of Sunderland last six home games, and five of United’s last eight away fixtures have finished with Under 2.5 Goals.

Under 2.5 Goals can be backed at 4/6 with Betfair.