Martin Wanless predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 0 Man Utd 2
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A
I’m not too confident about today’s game — United are in really good form overall and they must be in title winning-form since Carrick took over.
Hopefully we can finish the season strongly and if I’m wrong, I’ll be delighted!
‘The Champion’ Malc Dugdale predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Man Utd 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Granit Xhaka
Last weekend’s visit to the West Midlands was ruined by a red card, borne from a rule which has been much debated in recent
weeks.
To take a point, away from home with only ten men for over three quarters of the match, was not a bad situation, despite the fact that Wolves were awful and we would’ve certainly won without the intervention of the referee and the misinterpretation of a genuine tussle between players in a contact sport.
A point today is like a massive win and if we can do better than that, brilliant.
Let’s put the daft rules behind us, get something, and keep our faint hopes of Europe alive.
Jack Howe-Gingell predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Man Utd 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Brian Brobbey
It feels crazy that we could still end the season in 6th place, but I think realistically, our European aspirations have slipped away.
Not that this is a great sadness, as I think another steady season is what’s required, rather than the added pressure of a European adventure — or at least that’s what my brain is telling me. My heart would love for us to break into that scene during our first seaso back, but I think practicality wins out.
Manchester United are playing well; they’re fresh off a home win over Liverpool and now have three successive wins.
They’ll provide tough opposition and will be keen to cement their Champions League spot. We’ll need to be at our best to get anything, and will be down a big talisman in Dan Ballard.
We’ve stunned some big sides at home and I fancy us to give a big performance and do similarly. Big Brobbey feels like he’s due a goal, so I fancy him to roughneck his way to the opener in a tight win for us.
Will Jones predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Man Utd 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Granit Xhaka
Manchester United always bring the noise but they’ve hardly been convincing all season — big names, plenty of drama, and still capable of throwing in a shocker (as shown by the second half last weekend) and today, we have the return of the starboy!
At home, we’ll fancy making this uncomfortable for them. Keep the intensity high, get into tackles, and don’t let them settle. It feels like one where the crowd plays a massive part, and Xhaka smashing one in from distance would do nicely.
I’d definitely take a point.
Matty Foster predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 1 Man Utd 3
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Enzo Le Fée
Maybe it’s just the pessimist in me but I’m struggling to see us winning any of our last three. I’m not mad about it as we’ve had an incredible season and wherever we finish will be an incredible achievement.
Today, we face a Manchester United side placed firmly in third and unlikely to move either way. That’s Champions League football guaranteed, but their last three games suggest they’re not on the beach just yet.
It would be a huge win for us, but I think they’ll have too much for us.
All I ask is that we kidnap Amad and don’t allow him to leave without signing a contract.
Anthony Gair predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Man Utd 2
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Brian Brobbey
I think United will come here and come at us in the first half. We’ll be complacent — similar to the Nottingham Forest game — but we’ll learn our lesson and see out the first half 0-2 down.
The second half will be all us; we’ll be unreal, and Brobbey will smash their defence to pieces.
Gary Winter predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 0 Man Utd 2
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A
After a frustrating draw away at Wolves, it now feels like the dream of European football is over.
There isn’t much between twelfth and sixth, but with only three games left and a number of teams ahead of us, it looks difficult even if we won out from here.
Although we’ve thrown away some winnable games and been unlucky in others, the league table doesn’t lie at this point: it’s been a fantastic season, getting within touching distance of Europe at our first attempt.
Now we face a strong United side sitting comfortably in third place. They’re playing well and have found consistency.
I anticipate this game having an ‘end-of-season’ feel to it. Amad will get the warmest of welcomes when he inevitably steps off the bench, and United will ultimately coast to a comfortable win.
Brett Lyons-Davis predicts…
Score prediction: Sunderland 2 Man Utd 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Enzo Le Fée
United are in good form so this one will be tough — even more so without Dan Ballard — and it’ll be interesting to see if we start to mix things up a bit in other positions as well.
Seeing as I can’t finish bottom of this league, I’m going to go for it by calling a Sunderland win, and that’s exactly what the lads should be doing.
Now that we’re mathematically safe, (despite never being in any danger) let’s just go for it and try and finish as high up the league as we can.
Last time out…
The last game was ruined by a red card which was far from necessary, but applied to the letter of the laws fully reiterated in recent weeks.
The Lads were comfortable with eleven and may well have nicked all three points with only ten men for almost eighty minutes — although with some of the chances Wolves missed, maybe a point with ten men wasn’t so bad.
Today we welcome back Amad and a Manchester United side that’s had a great season.
Hopefully they’re already thinking about next season’s Champions League and we can get something from what’ll be a tough afternoon.
Last game predictions…
Two of the lads called us getting a 1-1 draw at Wolves, although if you told them we would have ten men for the length of time we did, they would probably have changed their tune.
Everyone else went for the away win, which looked very likely until our beautiful game dropped to new lows, with an accidental hair pull being classed as ‘violent conduct’. What a mess.
Predictions table and standings
Gary makes the podium, overtaking Brett, and Martin makes it very close to mathematically impossible for Gair to miss out on the wooden spoon.
The rest of the table is unchanged and with twelve points to play for — even Martin could still win our little league.
How the points are awarded
Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:
- Correct score = Three points
- Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
- Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goalscorer is a valid call)
- Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = a two-point deduction.
