Preview: David Moyes looking to avoid three consecutive defeats in the league
Last time the Red Devils lost three successive matches in the Barclays Premier League was back in 2001, when they lost to Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham in consecutive matches finishing third in the league.
David Moyes’ men will be relishing their chances against the Black Cats who are rock bottom of the Premier League having lost five of the six matches they have played so far. Their dismal start to the league resulted in Italian international Paolo Di Canio being relieved of his duties and Kevin Ball is set to take charge of his second match as the caretaker boss.
The 48 year old lost his first match in charge as Luis Suarez made his return to the Premier League, the Uruguayan put up a sublime showing scoring a brace on his return, but Kevin Ball can take some positives out of the match with his side putting up a much better display than their previous outings.
Sunderland fans will also be buoyed by the return of Lee Cattermole to the starting line-up. The 25 year old had been suffering from a knee injury but departing manager Paolo Di Canio was keen to offload the England international during his time at the club.
However following the Italian’s dismissal Cattermole was reinstated in the starting line-up and put up a strong display against Liverpool which clearly showed what Sunderland had been missing in the past few games. He will be really important in his side’s next match against Manchester United where he will be handed the tough task to mark the returning Wayne Rooney, who after missing the Champions League game in Ukraine is set to return to the starting line-up.
In what has been a very uncharacteristic display from United so far, Rooney has been the Red Devils only ray of inspiration and David Moyes will need his star forward to be at his best to get Man United back on track.
David Moyes who has just managed a single victory in the last four matches in all competitions will be raring to put the dismal run to an end and club captain Nemanja Vidic has urged his team to get back to winning ways starting with the match against Sunderland.
"I think this is a more important game," he said according to SkySports.
"We need to get a few wins in a row.
"The situation is not that bad compared to the teams who you would think will also be competing for the title, or at least the ones who were the favourites.
"We know we have to improve. We know we have to work hard and stick together on the pitch."
Rio Ferdinand who missed the trip to Ukraine is set to miss out again with a groin injury. Sunderland on the other hand will have their work cut out with a string of injuries. Striker Steven Fletcher could be ruled out for up to six weeks with a shoulder injury, while the defensive trio of Phil Bardsley (foot), Wes Brown (Calf) and Andrea Dossena (thigh) will also remained sidelined for the important match.
Apart from a string of bad matches and injuries, Sunderland also have against them a poor record when facing the reigning English Champions. In their last 24 matches in the Premier League against Man United, Sunderland have only managed eight points out of a possible 72.
David Moyes on the other hand has only lost a single match in his 16 Premier League meeting with the Black Cats.
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
Watch Sunderland vs Manchester United live on Saturday, October 5, 2013:
In Canada at 12:30 EDT on TalkSport Radio, Sportsnet Ontario / East / West / Pacific
In UK at 17:30 BST on Sky Sports 1/HD, Sky Go, Sky Sports 1 Ireland
In USA at 12:30 ET on NBC Sports Live Extra, SiriusXM FC, TalkSport Radio, NBC Sports Network,Mun2
Fans in other parts of the world can watch the match live on their local channels. Those in the Australia can watch the match live on Fox Sports Play.
For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit the Sunderland vs Manchester United match page.
