Manchester United have as good a chance as they will get anytime soon to pick up all three points and with it close the gap on the top four when they travel to the Stadium of Light to play Sunderland in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Sunderland remain mired in the relegation places, second from bottom, with even Sam Allardyce unable to plug that leaky defence. With Manchester United finally showing some good form in front of goal, this is a really good opportunity to flex their attacking muscles and gain more confidence as we close in on the business end of the season.
[Watch the highlights of the match HERE]
"It probably is a must-win game," Wayne Rooney, one of the players who has been instrumental in United's recent good run, told MUTV. "We want to get into that top four again and try and push as high up the table as possible. The only way we can do that is by winning games.
"Sunderland's ground is one that we've had a lot of good results at in the past, and we want a good performance, but I think on Saturday the most important thing is the result. They're fighting for survival and obviously they have a passionate crowd so we know it's going to be a difficult game for us.
"The one thing we can't do is let their fans get their players up on the pitch. We need to try and quieten the crowd at every opportunity we get, but I think the one thing we know that will 100% happen is [they'll] fight for the win."
Sunderland, though, will have to fight for that win without Younes Kaboul, Sebastian Larsson, Duncan Watmore and Jeremain Lens, who are all struggling with injuries. However, Fabio Borini is set to return from illness.
Whoever plays, though, one thing is clear, Sunderland need three points, and victory over Manchester United, even with all their struggles, will give the home team a big boost in their relegation battle.
"It's now or never," Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce, who team are four points adrift of safety as the table stands, was quoted as saying by The Guardian. "The longer you go without a win, the more pressure piles on you. The greater the pressure, the more likely it becomes that the lads can't handle it.
"We've failed in defence more than anywhere else. We've conceded too many goals and not got enough clean sheets. From my viewpoint, that's the biggest failure. Individual mistakes have cost us dearly. We try to show the players their responsibilities out of possession but they find that very difficult to cope with."
For Manchester United, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw remain on the treatment table, while Adnan Januzaj, Gillermo Varela and Phil Jones all picked up knocks while playing for the U-21s on Monday, ruling them out of this match against Sunderland.
Where to Watch Live
Sunderland vs Manchester United is scheduled for a 12.45 pm GMT (6.15 pm IST, 7.45 am ET) start. Live TV coverage of the match in India will be on Star Sports 4 and HD4, while the match can also be watched via live streaming online on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
The Premier League match will be shown live in the UK and Ireland on BT Sport 1, with the onlive live stream option on BT Sport Live.
PPTV Sports will broadcast the match live in China, while LeTV is the place to be to watch the game live in Hong Kong. Viewers in Singapore can watch the match live on 104 mio, with live coverage of the game in Thailand on CTH.
NBC Sports Network will broadcast the Manchester United vs Sunderland game live in the US, while the action can also be live streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra. Audience in Canada can watch the action live on TSN1, TSN3 and TSN4, with the live streaming option on TSN TV.
Australia viewers can watch the EPL game live on Fox Sports, while the online live streaming options are on Fox Sports On Demand and Foxtel Play.
Bein Sports Arabia 2 and Bein Sports Connect will broadcast the EPL match live in the Middle East and North Africa.
