Sunderland are enduring a very mixed season, and despite the appointment of Sam Allardyce they are really yet to put a decent run together this season.  Here they are coming off a battling 2-2 draw away at Liverpool last weekend, and this point left Sunderland in 19th place on 20 points, still 4 points off safety. Sunderland’s recent home record reads a fairly mediocre W4, D4, L7.

 When hosting the Top 6 sides the Black Cats host a fairly resilient record which reads W0, D6, L4 and here they can be backed at a value looking 5.25. If you do fancy Allardyce’s men to do well here then you can keep an element of the 1 goal loss on your side and they can be backed +0.5/1.0 goal at around 1.92.

 The recent head-to-head record at the Stadium of Light favours the visitors and reads Sunderland 0 wins, 2 Draws, and Manchester United 3 wins.

The draw can be backed at around 3.75 and this looks to offer some decent value and certainly should not be discounted given Sunderland’s record at home to Top 6 sides.

Manchester United have certainly shown signs of improvement over the last couple of games. They have beaten Stoke 3-0 at Old Trafford, and last time out were unlucky not to grab all 3 points when visiting Champions Chelsea in a 1-1 draw last weekend. This draw left United in 5th place on 41 points, and they are now 6 points away from a Champions League place. Manchester United’s recent away record reads a mixed looking W6, D5, L4.

When visiting the bottom 6 sides Louis van Gaal’s side boast a reasonable record that reads W4, D4, L2, and here they can be backed at around 1.79 and this looks priced a little low.

As far as goals are concerned then we have some mixed stats. When facing top 6 sides at home, 6 of Sunderland’s last 10 have seen 2 or less goals. In the case of Manchester United only 4 of their last 10 away to bottom 6 sides have finished with under 3 goals. However when looking at the general stats, 7 of Sunderland’s last 8 home have seen 2 or less goals. Here my ratings suggest value in Under 2.0/2.5 goals and this can be backed at around 2.00.

This is a vital match for both sides. When it comes to the goal line the stats are just too mixed to make a clear judgement. For my trade I am turning to the match line, where here despite United’s recent improvement, the value lies with the home side. Sunderland are fairly resilient at home and this season they have only conceded more than 1 goal twice in 12 matches. In the case of United, this season they have only won once away from home by 2 or more goals. The draw has to be given some consideration and is the play for the more adventurous. There looks some decent risk v reward backing the home side, and my recommended trade is Sunderland +0.5/1.0 goal at around 1.92.