Manchester United face a tricky Premier League encounter against in-form Sunderland at Old Trafford.
Victory will put Man Utd up to eighth if Fulham and Leeds fail to win elsewhere, whilst Sunderland could go second with a win if Tottenham lose at lunchtime and Arsenal taste defeat to West Ham.
Team News
Man Utd will welcome Amad Diallo (personal) and Casemiro (suspension) back into contention after the pair missed Utd’s 3-1 loss at Brentford.
Noussair Mazraoui (thigh) and Lisandro Martinez (knee) remain ruled out.
Sunderland have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Reinildo (suspension), Habib Diarra (groin), Aji Alese (shoulder), Leo Hjelde (Achilles), Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Dennis Cirkin (wrist) are still sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Man Utd host Sunderland on Saturday 4 October at Old Trafford in a 3pm BST kick-off, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd have won four of their last five meetings against Sunderland (W4, L1).
- Sunderland have won one of 16 previous Premier League visits to Man Utd (W1, D2, L13).
- No player from Utd’s last meeting against Sunderland in December 2016 remain at either club.
- Bruno Fernandes has played more through-ball passes than any other Utd player this season (5).
- Granit Xhaka has won more duels than any other Sunderland player this season (41).
Prediction
With no clean sheets this season and unpredictable performances so far this season, it is genuinely tough to know what to expect from Utd after awful defensive positioning and refusal to make tactical changes cost them at Brentford.
Sunderland meanwhile might be wasteful at times but at least they know their system and tactics which is a marked contrast to Utd, which could suit them if able to deploy their low block and hit the hosts’ exposed defensive wreck ruthlessly on the counter-attack.
Utd though have the upper hand in this fixture but on current form, I fancy Sunderland’s low block to be an issue because they can frustrate Utd and stretch their defence with counter-attacks, which could be enough for a draw if can capitalise on Utd’s fragilities.
Prediction: Man Utd 1-1 Sunderland
Result: Man Utd 2-0 Sunderland
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