Sunderland v Manchester United Betting Tips: Ibra to see United through again

These two sides are having pretty bad seasons by their own standards with Sunderland struggling massively against the drop whilst Man United look unlikely to finish in the Champions League spots.

Sunderland are currently sitting bottom of the table and, despite the fact they have a game in hand over some of their rivals, are still ten points from safety. They need a huge miracle to survive now and, going on current form which has seen them take just one point from a possible 18, it does not look like it is coming any time soon.

The Black Cats’ reliance on Jermain Defoe has now really come to the fore in this rotten run of games. There has been a lot of weight on the England striker’s shoulders and, if he has not scored, then Sunderland rarely have. The fact that they have not scored a single goal since 4th February shows that, when Defoe does not score, Sunderland are in huge trouble. To make matters worse, Defoe could miss this game against United through injury.

Defensively, Sunderland have not been terrible. They have only the fourth-worst record in the division and have only conceded three in their last three. Unfortunately for them, they have not been good enough in the final third to pick up results.

David Moyes’s men have the worst home record in the Premier League with just 13 points from 15 games whilst they have also not taken maximum points at the Stadium of Light since 17th December 2016. They have also failed to score in their last four on home turf. Having said that, it is certainly worth noting that they have kept a clean sheet in 27% of their home league matches this campaign.

Manchester United have not lost a Premier League match since 23rd October 2016, however, far too many draws, including two in their last two, means they are now sixth in the league with a four point gap up to the Champions League spots. They could obviously claw back this deficit but they really lack momentum at the moment.

Defending has not been a problem for Mourinho’s side this season and, in fact, they have the second-best defensive record in the division with just 24 conceded in 30 matches. Unlike Manchester United sides of years gone by, the problems have been in front of goal. United have only scored more than one goal in one of their last seven matches in all competitions. Thankfully for them though, talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from suspension for this match against Sunderland. The former Sweden international has been a huge miss.

The Red Devils have actually been enjoying life on the road a lot more than they have at Old Trafford in recent times having won five of their last six league matches away from home. They have also scored in all but one away match in all competitions since that aforementioned Premier League defeat on 23rd October.

United are the heavy favourites and for good reason. The fact that Ibrahimovic should be playing is a huge bonus for them and I expect him to mark his return with a goal. Having said that, given United’s goal-scoring failures, even with Ibrahimovic in the team, I doubt they will score too many against a Sunderland side who are likely to sit deep for the whole match. ‘Ibrahimovic to Score & Manchester United to Win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1’ looks a good bet and is worth getting on at 9/2.

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