Abhranil Roy
Sunderland will be hoping to claim a vital victory in their battle to beat the drop when they play host to Manchester United in the Premier League this weekend.The Black Cats came from 2-0 down to pickup a precious point against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend and Sam Allardyce will be looking for similar spirit from his side when they line up against Louis van Gaal’s men. On the other hand, the Dutchman will be hoping that his side continue their excellent run, which had almost given them a memorable win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, if not for Diego Costa’s last gasp equaliser.
United have lost just one of their last nine matches in all competitions and are playing with much more freedom in recent weeks. Sunderland battled bravely to take a point against Liverpool last week, but with just one win in their last five home fixtures, there is no doubt that the Black Cats require a significant upturn in fortunes if they are to avoid slipping into the second tier at the end of the current campaign.
TEAM NEWS:
Bastian Schweinsteiger could make a comeback to the squad, but it is unlikely that van Gaal will make any change to the starting XI which looks set now.
Adam Johnson, Sunderland’s winger has been charged on counts of sexual assault in a court and he will probably not make it to the starting XI in the game.
UNITED LINEUP:
David De Gea, Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Cameron Borthwick Jackson, Maroune Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney(c).
STAT ATTACK:
* Manchester United have won 21 and lost just two of their 29 Barclays Premier League matches against Sunderland.
* Sunderland have never beaten Man Utd in the league at the Stadium of Light (D4 L9).- * Wayne Rooney has been involved in as many BPL goals during six matches in 2016 (five goals,three assists), as he had in 33 appearances in 2015 (six goals, two assists).
* Only Sergio Aguero (seven) has scored more top-flight goals in 2016 so far than Jermain Defoe (six) and Wayne Rooney (five).
* Marouane Fellaini could make his 200th Premier League appearance in this match and would be only the second Belgian to reach this landmark inthe competition after Vincent Kompany.
* Sunderland have won just six of their previous 49Premier League games in the month of February and have the worst points per game ratio in this month of all current Premier League clubs (0.63).
* Manchester United have the best points per game record in the history of the Premier League in the month of February (2.26) and have lost just nine of their 85 games in the month.
Stats courtesy of betfair.com
PREDICTION:
A hard earned 2-1 win for the Red Devils.
