Sunderland vs. Manchester United: Match Preview

VENUE: Stadium of Light

KO TIME: 12:45 GMT

REFEREE: Kevin Friend

                Manchester United visit Sunderland on Saturday, their only away fixture in the entire of March, with a lead of 15 points. United could extend their lead if they win at the Stadium of Light. They will be 18 points above Manchester City who host Newcastle United later on Saturday. Martin O’Neill’s side are 7 games without a win, while United have won their last six games in the league.

                The Red Devils lost the title on Goal Difference last year despite a win at Sunderland in their Final Fixture. Every Manchester United player as well as fan has been waiting for this fixture, as the last visit to the Stadium of Light saw the home fans celebrating City’s victory. Sunderland have managed to beat United just once in the Premier League. United are 17 games unbeaten and are relentlessly marching towards the 20^th title.

TEAM NEWS:

Sunderland:The Black Cats will be without their top goal scorer Steven Fletcher and captain Lee Cattermole as they are ruled out for the rest of the season with ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Man United:Phil Jones and Paul Scholes could make a return to the squad. Luis Nani is unavailable for the Red Devils.

TEAM FORM:

Sunderland:L-L-L-D-L-D

Man United:W-W-W-L-D-W

PROBABLE LINEUPS:

Sunderland:Mignolet; O’Shea, Cuellar, Bramble, Rose; Larsson, Gardner, Vaughan, Johnson, Sessegnon; Graham

Man United:De Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Cleverley, Carrick, Kagawa; Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck

PREVIOUS MEETING:

The two sides previously met at Old Trafford in December, where United beat Sunderland3-1. Goals from Robin van Persie, Tom Cleverley and Wayne Rooney helped the Red Devils restore their 6 points lead then, while Fraizer Campbell scored a late consolation for the Black cats.

PREDICTION:

Sunderland1–3Man United

MAN TO WATCH:

Sunderland:Danny Graham

Danny Graham will be the man to lead Sunderland after Steven Fletcher’s injury makes him unavailable for the rest of the season.

Man United:Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney scored against Sunderland in the home leg, and as mentioned by him in his book, he has been looking for this fixture since the last year when United lost the title on the final day.

ZLATANISM: Top 25 Memorable Quotes from Zlatan Ibrahimovic

                Zlatan in a recent interview said “I think Steven Gerrard is respected throughout Europe. I know so because he is always the player the coach says be careful with because he is the one that makes the difference. But, although of course Liverpool is a big club, I would like to see Steven at a big international club.”

                Love him or Hate him, this guy is simply awesome. He has been one of my favourite players for so many years now. When Zlatan scored the Amazing Bicycle Kick against England in a friendly the commentator said: "You cannot coach that kind of brilliance"

Lets have a look at some amazing quotes from Zlatan:

1. On being marked by then Liverpool defender StephaneHenchoz. Zlatan – “First I went left, he did too. Then I went right, and he did too. Then I went left again, and he went to buy a hot dog.”

2. Reporter – “Is your playing style Swedish or Yugoslavian?”
Zlatan – “It’s Zlatan-style.”

3. Reporter – “You’ve got some scars on your face, Zlatan. What has happened?”
Zlatan – “Well…I don’t know…you’ll have to ask your wife about that”

4. Zlatan-“Absolutely not. I have ordered a plane. It is much faster.” (Zlatan about the rumour that he bought a super-Porsche)

5. Reporter – “Do you think it’s even possible for Ajax to lose nine points in nine games?”
Zlatan – “According to my calculations it is possible to lose nine points in only three games.”

6. Reporter – “What would you name your son?”
Zlatan – “Zlatan Jr.”

7. Zlatan (about how time stopped as he stood waiting on the side line to come in against Argentina in the World Cup.) – “You could have punched me in the face, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

8. Reporter – “How many one night stands have you had in total?”
Zlatan – “I don’t do that stuff. For me it is romance and love…right?”

9. Zlatan (Answer to criticism from John Carew that Zlatan’s moves are pointless.) – “What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”

10.“Arsene Wenger asked me to have a trial with Arsenal when I was 17. I turned it down. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”

11.When asked by a female reporter about rumours he is gay: “Come over to my house with your sister, baby, and I’ll show you who’s gay!”

12.When asked what he got his wife for her birthday – “”Nothing, she already has Zlatan.”

13.When asked “Who is the best looking woman in the world?” – “I don’t know, but when I find her I will date her.”

14. “We are looking for an apartment (in Paris). If we don’t find anything, then I’ll probably just buy the hotel.”

15.Which other sportsman would he compare himself to? – “I’m like Muhammed Ali. When he said he would knock someone out in the fourth round, he did it.”

16.Tiredness got the better of him in 2010. It was only November! – “I have played many games this season and now I feel tired, almost worn out. Seeing that at Milan there are two injured strikers, the situation is not very easy for me. I have to thank the Sweden coach who allowed me to rest a little bit this week.”

17. On reports of ‘excessive behaviour’ following Juventus’ 2005 title win - “It was the fault of David Trezeguet, who made me do one drink of vodka after another. I slept in the bathtub. Now I hold my vodka much better.”

18.I can play in the 11 positions because a good player can play anywhere on the pitch.

19.“I felt like crap when I was sitting in the locker room with Guardiola staring at me like I was an annoying distraction, an outsider. It was nuts. He was a wall, a stone wall. I didn’t get any sign of life from him and I was wishing myself away every moment with the team.”

20. “Then Guardiola started his philosopher thing. I was barely listening. Why would I? It was advanced bullshit about blood, sweat and tears, that kind of stuff.”

21. “Mourinho is Guardiola’s opposite. If Mourinho brightens up the room, Guardiola pulls down the curtains and I guessed that Guardiola now tried to measure himself with him.”

22.“An injured Zlatan is a pretty serious thing for any team.”

23. “Lionel Messi is awesome. He’s unbelievable, but I don’t really know him. We are totally different. He came to Barça as a 13-year old. He’s raised in that culture and has no problems with that ‘school’ shit. In the team, the play is all around him, pretty naturally actually. He’s brilliant, but now I had arrived [at Barca] and scored more goals than him.”

24.“At Barca, players were banned from driving their sports cars to training. I thought this was ridiculous – it was no one’s business what car I drive – so in April, before a match with Almeria, I drove my Ferrari Enzo to work. It caused a scene.”

25. When asked about Mario Balotelli’s recent tomfoolery: “I like fireworks too, but I set them off in gardens or kebab stands. I never set fire to my own house.”

EPL Players Who Deserve a Better Club

Year after year players leave their clubs in search of new ones to prove themselves and to earn glory. Some make the right choices by selecting the right clubs, some don’t. As we are in the final quarter of the season and the transfer window will open soon after the end of the season, let’s have a look at some players who have proved themselves and deserve a better club (no particular order):

Asmir Begovic:

Over the years, Britannia Stadium has always been a difficult place to visit for almost every team. This is because of the amazing defense Stoke City has been producing and Asmir Begovic is one of those Gems. The Goal-Keeper is one of the outstanding keepers in the Premier League and has kept many Clean Sheets this season. Begovic is on the radar of Manchester United as Substitute keeper Anders Lindegaard seems unhappy by the role and the games he is getting. A move to a big club like United or any other top club will make him even better than what he is now.

Rickie Lambert:

The Southampton star who has been with club for four years now is one of the best strikers in the Premier League. The Saints number 7 has not missed a single penalty for the club yet scoring all the 31 he has taken, and missed just once out of the 48 penalties he has taken in his career. With his penalty taking, physical appearance and style of play, he is considered as the next Matt Le Tissier, the Southampton legend. Playing at a top club is something for him to regret about, but he seems quite happy at Southampton. Lambert is now 31 years old and has a couple of years more in him, might get a few offers in the summer from some of the big clubs.

Ryan Shawcross:

Shawcross who began his career at Manchester United hardly got any time to play first team football with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown miles ahead of him. He was certainly a developing player and the loan spell to Stoke City was the turning point when they managed to sign him for £1m later. Shawcross had formed a good pair with Faye and is also now playing good with Robert Huth. As mentioned earlier that a visit to Britannia Stadium is always difficult for every team, it is not only Begovic but the brilliant defenders they have got like Shawcross. A return to Manchester United could be possible as both Vidic and Ferdinand might retire soon.

Michu:

What a steal that was from Swansea, absolute bargain, I need not write much about the lad, we all have seen him play and score those beautiful goals, and most of us also have him in our FPL. The £2m Spaniard has proved his worth game after game and has been a phenomenon in his debut season. Many clubs were in contact with Swansea in January, but they somehow managed to extend his contract for another 4 years. He is surely one of those players who deserve a better club.

Leighton Baines:

The Everton Left-Back has been extremely good for the second consecutive season now with his amazing defending as well the assists and few goals that he has got. Baines was earlier linked with a move to Manchester United, but after the arrival of Alex Buttner, the move looks highly unlikely. Many top clubs are after the English international, and Baines is certainly one of those players who can play in the big games in Europe.

Marouane Fellaini:

Another Evertonian who has been outstanding throughout the season, one of the best DLP’s in the Premier League. Everton won’t make it to the Champions League as they face a very tough competition with the Blues, Gunners and Spurs. Fellaini has the potential to play in big games and has proved this year against the top clubs, and would certainly do well against the European top clubs. Quite a few clubs are chasing the Evertonian beast; Everton will surely take a huge sum for him.

Luis Suarez:

After all the criticism he has got, whether the diving, racially abusing etc., but at the end of the day you just can’t stop praising him for his skills and the goals he has scored for Liverpool. The Uruguayan international is now the top scorer in the premier league and the lad surely deserves to play in the Champions League. Liverpool look unlikely to qualify for the Champions League next season and Suarez was recently linked with a move to Bayern Munich. Suarez would certainly do well under Pep Guardiola considering their way of attacking and the pace they have got.