Man United v Sunderland: 46-year wait to continue for Black Cats
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Sunderland’s last win at Old Trafford was so long ago that none of the players involved in Saturday’s crunch relegation tie were even born.
The year was 1968 and Louis Armstrong topped the charts with What a Wonderful World but with Championship football now a real possibility for the Wearsiders the world will be far from wonderful for Sunderland fans at this weekend’s final whistle.
United are finishing the season with a bang and have rediscovered their attacking prowess, especially against those battling the drop.
Four goals against Aston Villa and another four against Norwich last time out should have Gus Poyet’s men sweating, especially with just one win from their last six games away from the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats are above the drop zone on goal difference alone and while they have a game in hand on the 18th-placed Canaries they are likely to see their dog fight go down to the wire.
With confidence in United being somewhat restored under interim manager Ryan Giggs the Red Devils go into this match as the overwhelming 4/11 favourites, while Ladbrokes is offering 4/1 on the draw and 7/1 on Sunderland causing a huge upset.
Some of the United old guard will have a hint of remorse for the Black Cats, with former Old Trafford residents Phil Bardsley, Wes Brown and John O’Shea now plying their trade on Wearside, but as Blackburn and Brian Kidd can attest United are anything but altruistic where relegation is concerned.
With United such clear favourites for the win bigger returns can be had by dipping into the goalscorer markets.
Wayne Rooney bagged a brace against Norwich and looks a good bet to open the scoring here at 5/2 or to net anytime at 1/2.
Juan Mata was equally prolific against the Canaries – showing Giggs what he can do from the bench – and is perhaps the better value pick at 5/1 to strike first and 11/8 to score at any point during the 90 minutes.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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