Sunderland vs Manchester United – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Sreya

Sunderland hosts Manchester United at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, 13th February in their twenty-first English Premier League fixture of the season. The Black Cats have won only five matches so far and a 2-2 draw against Liverpool last weekend helped their points tally to reach the twenty point mark – still a fair distance from safety.

Manchester United drew 1-1 at Chelsea last Sunday, dropping two points from winning position. With forty one points, the Red Devils sit on the fifth position, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

Team News

Sebastian Larsson, Duncan Watmore, Jeremain Lens and Younes Kaboul are sidelined through injuries while Sam Allardyce has confirmed Adam Johnson will not be included in the matchday squad. Adam Matthews and Billy Jones are doubts as well.

Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia, Marcos Rojo and Ashley Young are confirmed absentees for the visitors while Bastian Schweinsteiger, Adnan Janujaz and Guillermo Varela are doubtful for this fixture.

Sunderland Possible Starting Lineup: Vito Mannone, DeAndre Yedlin, Lamine Kone, John O’Shea, Patrick Van Aanholt, Jan Kirchhoff, Wahbi Khajri, Yann M’Vila, Lee Cattermole, Fabio Borini, Jermain Defoe.

Manchester United Possible Starting Lineup: David de Gea, Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“Our major problem is that we haven’t kept a clean sheet in 11 matches.We need to start putting a zero against us in games and, if we start doing that, we’ll win more matches. If we win more matches, we’ll get out of trouble.”

– Sam Allardyce, Sunderland.

“We had lost four matches in a row in December and you see us now. You can only say that we are mentally very strong and that we can cope with the pressure. That is not enough as we have to improve our results and consistency to win a lot of matches in a row. We have to minimize the gap to our competitors.”

– Louis van Gaal, Manchester United.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, the previous six encounters between these two sides have resulted in three wins and only two losses for Sunderland. However, Manchester United are undefeated in twenty four of their last twenty six matches against Sunderland in all competitions.

Although Manchester United boast of a stronger side, the Black Cats will be a tough opponent at home. It should be a closely contested affair, with a 2-1 win for Manchester United being the most probable outcome.