Last year at this time, Jose Mourinho had just become a free agent. Chelsea had just let him go before the holiday push in one of the most shocking firings we've seen in a long time in English soccer. Mourinho isn't quite being threatened at Old Trafford yet, but Manchester United supporters are starting to get frustrated with the "Chosen One." The Red Devils want nothing more for Christmas than to get back to their winning ways, but by sitting on just 30 points in 17 matches, there's a point that it must be accepted that their ceiling is fourth place and a chance to play in the UCL next season. A match against Sunderland is absolutely a must-win at home.
This EPL duel will go down Monday, December 26, 2016, at 10 a.m. ET at Old Trafford. The match will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Manchester United -416
Sunderland +950
Draw +550
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
The oddsmakers don't have much in the way of a choice in this one. The Red Devils, based off of name alone, have to be favorites in this match by a huge margin. They're set at -416 on the moneyline and are being asked to lay a goal and a half on the Asian Handicap, a hefty price for a team that is basically nothing more than a mid-table team at this point.
The Black Cats though, are awful. They have just one win and one draw in eight away matches this season, and that's why they're heading into the holidays in the relegation zone. Think they can score this massive upset? It'll pay almost 10 to 1 for you.
Key Injuries
To say that injuries are mounting at Sunderland would be an understatement, and the last thing that it needed was to not have Adnan Januzaj in the lineup. That said, Januzaj is on loan from Manchester United and isn't eligible to play in the match. But look at the list of names not playing for the Black Cats… Lynden Gooch, Billy Jones, Jan Kirchoff, Javier Manquillo, Patrick McNair, Steven Pienaar, Jack Rodwell, Duncan Watmore… Manager David Moyes definitely has his work cut out for him just to field a competent side at this point.
Man U is playing without Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw, though Henrikh Mkhitaryan's injury-riddled season could see him on the sidelines as well thanks to a minor ankle knock. Keep an eye on his status throughout the week.
Recent Form
In fairness to United, the team has been in good form since winning its last match of the group stage of the Europa League on December 8. The club has since beaten Tottenham at home and Crystal Palace and West Brom on the road, and the team has allowed just one goal in these last four matches. That said, none of the performances have been anything near flawless, and there's a lot of work to be done to get this team back into dominant form on a permanent basis.
Sunderland has actually picked up a healthy 12 points in its last seven matches, and if it keeps up that pace for the rest of the year, it'll avoid the drop once again. The Black Cats though, haven't been scoring goals a ton lately. They did beat Watford 1-0 last week, but that came on the heels of losing 1-0 to Chelsea and somewhat inexplicably 3-0 to Swansea City.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
We would be stunned if Sunderland pulled out anything from this match, including scoring a goal. The tactical Red Devils are playing their best ball of the season, and so long as they don't concede, we can't see them going through the whole fixture without putting one home. That should be enough to get this win, though we would be hesitant to lay the Asian Handicap.
EPL Odds: Manchester United 1, Sunderland 0
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