Sunderland look to keep their fading European qualification dreams alive against Manchester United.
Victory would lift Sunderland as high as ninth if results elsewhere go in their favour, whilst Man Utd will secure third place with a win as long as Liverpool and Aston Villa both fail to win elsewhere this weekend.
Team News
Dan Ballard is suspended for Sunderland’s final three matches after he was red carded for a hair pull on Tolu Arokodare in their 1-1 draw at Wolves.
Nilson Angulo (muscle) and Bertrand Traore (knee) face late fitness checks, having failed to prove their fitness for the trip to Wolves.
Simon Moore (hand) and Romaine Mundle (hamstring) will again be sidelined.
Man Utd could be without forward, Benjamin Sesko after he suffered a shin injury during their 3-2 victory at home to Liverpool.
Lisandro Martinez is back from suspension but Matthijs De Ligt (back) is still ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Sunderland host Man Utd at Stadium of Light on Saturday 9 May at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland have lost five of their last six league meetings against Man Utd (W1, L5).
- Man Utd have lost one of their last 15 league visits to Sunderland (W10, D4, L1).
- Michael Carrick’s Red Devils have kept clean sheets in four of their last six clashes against Sunderland.
- Granit Xhaka has been booked in both of Sunderland’s last two matches (D1, L1).
- Man Utd have lost just one league match this season in which Benjamin Sesko has found the net (W7, D2, L1).
Prediction
Currently five points off sixth-placed Bournemouth and needing to win and hope that results elsewhere to go in their favour across their last three matches, Sunderland really need to deliver a strong performance like how they began at Wolves before Ballard’s red card left them a man down for over one hour.
Man Utd meanwhile can afford to experiment now that Champions League qualification is assured but with Michael Carrick’s future beyond this month uncertain, I expect him to still want to continue Utd’s form to prove that he is the man for the permanent managerial role.
It is also worth remembering that Regis Le Bris’ first-half tactical blunders cost Sunderland in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford, but I don’t see him repeating those errors here and they should have the extra motivation that Utd won’t have to get the win.
Prediction: Sunderland 2-1 Man Utd
Result: Sunderland 0-0 Man Utd