Both David Moyes and Jose Mourinho are coming under increasing pressure as their clubs meet on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.
Former Manchester United manager, Moyes, has seen his stock fall since his departure from Old Trafford. Following the defeat at Watford last weekend, the Scot was caught on camera saying “You were just getting a wee bit naughty at the end there, so just watch yourself. You still might get a slap even though you’re a woman. Careful the next time you come in.”
Moyes’ remarks were directed to a female journalist who had just completed an interview with the Sunderland manager. As if the job of managing Sunderland wasn’t already proving difficult enough, Moyes heaped more pressure on himself with the poor comments heading into the mid-week fixture at Leicester City.
The champions had little problem in seeing off Sunderland 2-0 at the King Power Stadium and the result left Sunderland rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table. Trends show Sunderland have failed to win any of their previous six league games. In fact, during that run of fixtures, the Black Cats have picked up just a single point, which came thanks to a 0-0 draw with Burnley at the Stadium of Light.
While Sunderland have been struggling to avoid defeat, trends show Manchester United have not tasted defeat in any of their previous 20 Premier League games. While the Red Devils have been tough to beat under Mourinho, they have been struggling to win games, especially at Old Trafford.
Last time out, Manchester United were fortunate to scrape a point thanks to a last-minute penalty scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Everton took the game to Manchester United and having taken the lead through a softly conceded goal, could have added to their total, if their play on the break had been more clinical.
In many ways, Manchester United may be happy to make the trip to Sunderland, having found life difficult at Old Trafford this season. Trends show that away from home, Manchester United have won six of their last seven games in the Premier League, drawing the other two. Perhaps the pressure of playing in front of their home fans at Old Trafford has started to get to the players.
Sunderland have failed to win any of their last six home Premier League games and this poor run of form will need to change if they are to avoid the drop. However, draws with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur show Sunderland can compete with teams at the top of the table and their players may rise to the occasion with the game being screened live in the UK.
Key striker, Jermain Defoe was struggling with an injury prior to the Leicester match but started the game. It remains to be seen if the England international will be fit for this game. Manchester United will be hoping to include Paul Pogba in the starting XI after he made a comeback from injury in the draw with Everton on Tuesday night.
Playing away from home may suit Manchester United, who will be looking to take advantage of space left by Sunderland. However, Moyes is unlikely to send out his team to attack and this could be a scrappy game, without much flow to the action. Manchester United have the individual talent to make a difference and could come away with a narrow victory.