ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PREVIEW - MANCHESTER UNITED VS SUNDERLAND

English Premier

2025-10-04 - Manchester United vs Sunderland

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Manchester United v Sunderland
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 4th October 2025 - Kick Off 3pm

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Manchester United

The reports are ramping up that Manchester United could soon be looking for yet another new manager, although the Club have tried to distance themselves from those. It would be a real surprise if Ruben Amorim's position is not being questioned after yet another Premier League defeat where his tactics and substitutions have been heavily questioned.

The Portuguese manager is going into his eleventh month as manager of the English giants, but there has been very little positivity in that time and some have even suggested a poor result on Saturday would spark a change. The side are back down to 14th in the Premier League table after the loss last Saturday and Manchester United have earned 7 points. A large majority of those have been earned at Old Trafford where Manchester United have a 2-0-1 record.

Manchester United have not won 2 Premier League games in a row under Ruben Amorim, but they have avoided consecutive defeats this season and that will be the minimum of aims for this fixture. Since losing to Arsenal on the opening weekend, Manchester United have beaten Burnley and Chelsea at Old Trafford in the top flight.

Casemiro is back from a suspension and Amad is also available having been given some personal time off to attend family matters. Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martinez are expected to miss out with both hoping to return later this month.

Sunderland

A huge amount of financial outlay in the summer was designed to make sure Sunderland are competitive in their return to the Premier League, but they would have still begun the season as odds on favourites for relegation. However, Regis Le Bris and the squad deserve so much credit for the character they have shown through the first two months of the Premier League season.

Last weekend they needed a top goalkeeping performance and some wasteful Nottingham Forest finishing to earn maximum points, but Sunderland fans will not be worried about that. Instead they will open up the Premier League table and see The Black Cats in 5th place in the standings and with 11 points on the board. The side have a 1-1-1 away record where they have scored 1 goal and conceded 2.

Sunderland were beaten by Huddersfield Town on Penalties in the League Cup Second Round, but they have not lost in 4 Premier League games and won half of those fixtures. Last weekend, Sunderland won an away Premier League game for the first time since May 2017 and it was also the first time they had scored a top flight goal on their travels since the final day of that season.

Reinildo continues to serve a suspension, while a number of other squad players will be hoping to use the October international break as a chance to overcome injury issues.

Head to Head

Manchester United did the Premier League double over Sunderland back in 2016/17, but so much has changed for the former in that time.

The hosts have won the last 3 meetings between these clubs at Old Trafford.

Prediction

You can't be that confident around Manchester United when you hear the manager admit he doesn't know what to expect from match to match.

After playing well against Chelsea, Manchester United came out and effectively handed Brentford a 2-0 lead very quickly last Saturday.

Some of the decisions around the starting lineup and the substitutions have to be questioned and that has put Ruben Amorim under the spotlight yet again, but things may have changed dramatically if Bruno Fernandes had not missed a Penalty to equalise in the second half.

It is the second important Penalty miss from the Captain in matches played in West London this season, but it was Fernandes who scored the winning Penalty against Burnley at Old Trafford in August.

Bouncing back from poor performances has been something Manchester United have managed this season and they have not lost twice in a row, although finding a semblance of consistency looks beyond them as the search for 2 League wins in a row continues too.

Consecutive Premier League wins at Old Trafford will give Manchester United some confidence and they are playing a Sunderland team that will offer up chances.

However, Regis Le Bris' team need to be given a lot of credit for the resilience they have shown on their return to the top flight. Both Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest may wonder how they did not breach the Sunderland defences, but things are rolling in favour of the newly promoted Club and Sunderland have shown a clinical touch in the final third.

There have been fewer signs of that away from home though and that should show up on Saturday.

Trusting Manchester United to do anything positive is perhaps asking too much, but they have scored five goals in the last couple of League fixtures at Old Trafford. There is no doubting the talent that is available in the forward line, although the defence will always offer an opportunity to any opponent faced, and Manchester United will likely need two goals to secure the maximum points.

Sunderland will look to sit deep and hit Manchester United on pace on the counter attack, but this is a team that will give up some Big Chances and Manchester United can at least offer Ruben Amorim a bit of respite through the October international break.

The Pick :

Manchester United 2-1 Sunderland

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Manchester United to Win & Over 1 Total Goals (Bet Builder) at 1.70 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)