English Premier
2010-05-02 - Sunderland vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football : England : Premier League
Sunday 2nd May 2010, Kickoff 4pm
Sunderland
Last 5 Sunderland Home Games :W4-D1-L0 F13-A4
Steve Bruce’s Sunderland side are having a great season, currently occupying 10th in the Premiership with 44 points. A long time ago they were safe from relegation but at the same time they never had a chance of European football next season, yet the Mackems are keeping focused and currently are on a 9 game unbeaten run at home.
Yet come Sunday the best away team in the land comes to visit in the shape of Manchester United and despite the great Sunderland home form taking anything from this one is going to take a huge effort.
Whilst Bruce has dismissed doing his old side any favours, you can’t help but feel that United are going to win this game regardless, Sir Alex Ferguson has never lost to a Bruce managed side and in 2008 United had to face Bruce’s Wigan on the final day of the season knowing a win would crown them Champions and United won comfortably.
Sunday’s game has a deja vous about it as the circumstances are very similar, United need to win whilst Sunderland have nothing to play for.
Now this Sunderland side is better than that Wigan one but having that record in the back of your head can’t help. The Mackems can however take heart that they are one of 3 teams to take something away from Old Trafford this season, Bruce’s men were seconds away from a famous win until a stoppage time equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw for United.
The Stadium of Light isn’t the easiest place to visit and Sunderland can proudly boast that they have the 8th best home record in the league. 18 played with 9 wins is impressive but only 2 losses is an incredible achievement, the two sides to win here were Chelsea (3-1) and Villa (2-0), of which Chelsea are 3rd and Villa 2nd In the away tables this year. Unfortunately for Sunderland Sunday’s visitors United have the best away record and may just be the third team to win here this season.
Team news is that Hutton is banned following a red card against Hull last time out with McCartney and Reid are also on the sidelines. There are doubts over Cattermole (calf), Mensah (knee/hip) and Turner (arm), of which Cattermole and Turner are vitally important. Turner was subbed at half time last week but is back in training and should start. Cattermole has been hampered by a calf injury and is going to have a late fitness test, at this stage we must assume he will miss out.
Predicted Sunderland Lineup:
Gordon, Bardsley, Turner, Kilgallon, Richardson; Meyler, Henderseon, Malbranque, Campbell; Jones, Bent.
Manchester United
Last 5 Manchester United Away Games :W3-D1-L1 F7-A3
Defending Champions Manchester United must win if they are to get their hands on a record 19th league title and historic 4th straight Premiership Title. As usual United has kicked on since Xmas to get to within 1 point of leaders Chelsea, of whom face Liverpool at Anfield earlier in the day.
By the time United square off against Sunderland they could find themselves a win away from top spot with just one more game to go. This is a massive game for United and Ferguson’s side simply must win.
In 2010 United have gone onto win 11 out of the 16 games played and have clawed back into the title race, yet had it not been for a recent 92nd minute winner at the Eastlands from Paul Scholes, their quest for a record 19th title would have been practically over. Now with 2 games to go, many are tipping United to win their final two games and that could just be enough for the title.
I mentioned United hold the best away record in the Premiership, after 18 away games the Red Devils have 10 wins but also 5 defeats with only 3 draws. It’s obvious that United look for the win on their travels and not happy for a point and as a result they have suffered quite a few defeats on the road, but it’s because of this attitude that they have the most away points in the league they are able to convert drawing situations into wins (see the recent Manchester derby!).
A reason behind their great success on the road is there ability to score a lot of goals, 33 goals in 18 away games is incredible, its nearly 2 goals a game! Most teams in the league struggle to average two goals a game at home let alone away and what’s also impressive is that they have only conceded 16, which is less than a goal a game. 16 goals conceded is the best in the league and 33 scored is the joint second best, with this one-two punch we can see why United are soo good away from home.
A key component to this side is Rooney, the writers and players player of the year is currently the leading marksman in the Premiership with 26 goals and without him United are not the same side. They did win impressively against Spurs without him but in other games it’s clear that Berbatov is not a good enough replacement.
Rooney was initially ruled out of this game but Ferguson has stated his number 10 has trained on Friday and is in contention, his inclusion is huge for United and it’s hard to see them dropping points with him in the side.
Other team news is that Ferdinand is also in contention following an injury plagued season, however unlike Rooney I expect him to just miss out as Evans and Vidic have looked very solid in recent weeks. Anderson and Owen are done for the season and will not feature, apart from Rooney and Ferdinand, Sir Alex has a fit squad to choose from.
That being said it is likely that he will stick with the senior players who have been fantastic lately so that means Giggs, Scholes and Neville are all set to start in a side looking like:
Predicted Manchester United Lineup :
Van der Sar, Neville, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Nani, Valencia; Rooney
The Betting Verdict
Assuming Rooney starts it is hard to see the Mackems taking anything from this game, Ferguson’s men must win and given the lack of motivation for Sunderland I see only one winner.
Away win.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sunderland 0-2 Manchester United
BEST BETTING TIP :
Although I have Manchester United winning the odds of 1.40 (2/5) for United is poor value = no bet.Alternatively take Rooney to score any time at Evens
