The ‘Big Four’ teams have not been sweeping every team aside at home this season. Chelsea have stuttered against Newcastle and Tottenham, Liverpool have failed to put Stoke, Fulham and West Ham to the sword, while Arsenal have slipped up at home to Hull. Nevertheless, it’s incredibly difficult to see Roy Keane’s men getting any change out of the champions on Saturday evening.
The Irishman is favourite (15/8 Paddy Power) to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post, and a 4-1 humbling at home to Bolton might have shunted him nearer the exit door. His team will have little to no confidence ahead of their trip to Old Trafford, something which is reflected in the 24/1 (betfair) available about them winning the game. The draw (6/1 bet direct) is surely their best hope, although surely a large slice of luck is required to come away with a point.
Manchester United (1/5 Ladbrokes) will be the cornerstone of many people’s accumulators this weekend, with the champions just 8/15 (Paddy Power) to be leading at the interval and the final whistle. With a busy December schedule ahead, they will be looking to put this game to bed early, with Cristiano Ronaldo sure to have plenty of joy against the Black Cats. He’s 10/3 (bet365) to open the scoring and 4/5 (Stan James) to score at any point in the match. Wayne Rooney, scorer of the only goal in last Sunday’s Manchester derby, is 5/4 (Skybet) on the same market.
Since drawing 1-1 with Newcastle on the opening day of the season, the Red Devils have won all five matches at home, scoring seventeen goals in the process. Therefore, the natural conclusion is to back 3-0 (7/1 Stan James) and 4-0 (10/1 Blue Square) on the correct score market. If you think it could be the proverbial cricket score, 5-0 is a 20/1 chance with Sportingbet, with the same firm offering 40/1 about a 6-0 thrashing!