Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard celebrates his goal with teammates against Chelsea. (Photo : Getty Images)
Bottom-three club Sunderland AFC (5-15-5, 20 points) is scheduled to host struggling English top flight giant Manchester United FC (11-6-8, 41 points) at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, Feb. 13th for a 2015-2016 Premier League matchup.
While Sunderland is generally having a down season, the Black Cats have actually been playing well in the past several weeks as they have been unbeaten in four of their last six outings.
The team had pulled off wins over Aston Villa and Swansea City while drawing with Bournemouth and just recently powerhouse Liverpool to gain points in the league table. Yet, they remain in second to the last place of the standings four points clear of cellar-dweller Villa.
Their previous match, a 2-2 draw with Liverpool, was held at the Anfield last Saturday, as reported by SkySports.
Striker Jermain Defoe was the hero of the day for Sam Allardyce's squad as he netted the equalizer one minute before full time after teammate Adam Johnson scored their first goal in the 82nd minute of the match.
Both teams were unable to score in the first half and in the opening minutes of the second until Reds forward Roberto Firmino found the back of the net at the 59th to open the scoring.
Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana followed it up in the 70th to give the hosts a two-goal advantage before the Black Cats pulled off the stunning comeback.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils' title hopes are dwindling as they have failed to keep pace with the top contenders. They have won three of their last six games, just enough for fifth place in the overall standings, six points clear of fourth-running Manchester City.
Their most recent game is a 1-1 draw with equally struggling defending champions Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge on Sunday, via ESPN.
It was a tight game for a little more than an hour as both teams went scoreless in the stretch. Finally, United winger Jesse Lingard opened the scoring in the 61st as it looked like the winning goal, but Chelsea striker Diego Costa equalized it one minute into injury time to share the spoils in Fulham.
The predicted result is a 2-0 victory for Manchester United. Louis van Gaal's boys have been inconsistent this season and so they will try to bounce back from the poor showing at Stamford Bridge last week.
Sunderland starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Mannone; Jones, Koné, O'Shea, van Aanholt; Kirchhoff; Watmore, Cattermole, M'Vila, Khazri; Defoe
Manchester United starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): De Gea; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson; Fellaini, Carrick; Lingard, Mata, Martial; Rooney
