Preview
Manchester United vs Sunderland Betting Tips
Monday, 26/12/2016
Old Trafford
Bet on a 2-1 win for United at 10/1 odds
David Moyes returns to Old Trafford for the first time on Boxing Day since his appointment as Sir Alex Fergusson’s successor was dismissed two years ago. David Moyes’s Sunderland have won only once on the road and have been a regular resident of the relegation zone this season. But the Black Cats have produced some sparkling performances of late and won four out their last seven matches. Sunderland moved closer towards the safety zone when they walked away with the points against Watford in a mundane display of football. Patrick Van Aanholt scored the deciding goal for the hosts and helped his side to climb up to the 18th position in the standings.
Manchester United have finally seemed to found their rhythm under Jose Mourinho and are currently on an unbeaten run stretching 11 games in all competitions. In spite of their resurgence, the Red Devils are still four points from a UCL spot and a win against Sunderland could help them shrink the gap, depending on other results of course. Zlatan Ibrahimovitch scored a double last Saturday to overcome West Brom in their own backyard. The win at Hawthorns meant United have won all three matches they played in a seven day span. Clear signs that the sleeping giants are finally waking up!
TEAM NEWS
- Manchester United
Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be back in the squad.
Injuries: Luke Shaw(knock)
Doubtful: Henrikh Mkhitaryan(ankle)
- Sunderland
Adnan Janujaz will be ruled out of the clash because the Belgian winger is not allowed to play against his parent club. Billy Jones, Javier Manquillo and Steven Pienaar have returned in training but they are yet to be declared fit for the match.
Injuries: Patrick McNair(knee), Duncan Watmore(knee), Jack Rodwell(hamstring), Jan Kirchhoff(knee), Lynden Gooch(ankle), Lee Cattermole(hip)
Suspensions: Adnan Januzaj(ineligible to play against his parent club)
Doubtful: Steven Pienaar(knock), Javier Manquillo(knock), Billy Jones(hip)
PREDICTION
It’d be a big ask to expect Sunderland causing an upset at Old Trafford. This should be an easy United win
Bet on a 2-1 win for United at 10/1 odds
RECENT FORM
- Manchester United(6th in the league, last 20 matches in all competitions)
2-0(Away, West Brom)2-1(Away, Crystal Palace)1-0(Home, Tottenham)2-0(UEL, Away, Zorya Luhansk)1-1(Away, Everton)
- Sunderland(18th in the league, last 5 matches in all competitions)
1-0(Home, Watford)0-1(Home, Chelsea)0-3(Away, Swansea)2-1(Home, Leicester)0-2(Away, Liverpool)
HEAD TO HEAD
Total Played | United wins | Sunderland wins | Draws |
143 | 63 | 42 | 38 |
LAST MEETING
13 February, 2016
Stadium of Light
Premier League
Sunderland 2-Man Utd 1
INTERESTING FACTS
- Manchester United last 20 home games against teams below them-12 wins, 6 draws, 2 losses, 1.5 goals scored/game, 0.5 conceded/game.
- Sunderland last 20 away games against teams above them-4 wins, 5 draws, 11 losses, 1.1 goals scored/game, 1.8 goals conceded/game.
- Manchester United have lost just one of their last 24 top-flight home games against the Black Cats, in May 2014 (W16 D7).
- Sunderland haven’t beaten Manchester United in successive top-flight games since 1951 (three in a row).
- Manchester United have won more Premier League games on Boxing Day than any other team (18).
- Jermain Defoe has scored six times on Boxing Day in the Premier League, more than any current player in the division. The record scorer on Boxing Day in Premier League history is Robbie Fowler (9).
- This will be the third time in their last 10 Premier League Boxing Day matches that the Black Cats have faced Manchester United; losing to twice against them in 2007 (0-4) and 2010 (0-2).
- Since the start of November, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored seven goals from just eight shots on target in the Premier League.
- Ibrahimovic has scored 40 goals in the month of December within the ‘big five’ European Leagues since he joined Juventus in 2004-05; his best goal tally in a single month.
- Manchester United are 6th place in the Premier League table at Christmas – only the second time in the Premier League era that they are outside the top five on this date after 2013-14 (8th).
- Since 2014-15 in the Premier League, Man Utd have won 64% of the 44 matches that Michael Carrick has started, compared to 39% of the 49 games that he hasn’t.
- David Moyes managed to win 50% of his games in the Premier League as Manchester United manager, a higher ratio than Jose Mourinho at the club so far (47%).