Manchester United, Sunderland Clash

Manchester United will be hoping to avoid a third successive league defeat when they travel to Sunderland on Saturday.

David Moyes’s side have dropped to 12th place on the table after last weekend’s 2-1 reversal at the hands of West Bromwich Albion.

United come into the match at the Stadium of Light following Wednesday night’s draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

Managerless Sunderland will also be looking for a win to haul themselves off the bottom of the Premier League.

The Black Cats have lost five of their six league games so far this season, including last Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Caretaker-manager Kevin Ball will be without injured defenders Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley, while Andrea Dossena is expected to be out due to a thigh injury.

For United, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney could return to the side after both missed the midweek match against Shakhtar. Tom Cleverley may retain his place in the starting XI after completing 90 minutes in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, United captain Nemanja Vidic has told his team-mates to get back to basics as they bid to ease the pressure on David Moyes at Sunderland on Saturday.

Serbian defender Vidic acknowledges United have been well below their best so far, and he believes his defence must provide a solid foundation to allow Moyes’ men to get back on track against Sunderland, who sit bottom of the table without a manager after Paolo Di Canio’s sacking and still waiting for their first win of the season.

“We have to accept it has not been a great start,” Vidic said. “We have not been getting the performances we would have liked and we also have to be realistic enough to accept we have made some mistakes.

“This team has a lot of potential and we are working really well.

“Sometimes the results don’t come. Sometimes the performances don’t come. But I am really positive.

“The most important thing is to defend right. If we defend well, I think we have a really good chance to win trophies.”

Across Manchester, City manager Manuel Pellegrini is also sorely in need of a victory after seeing his side crushed by Bayern Munich in midweek just days after a humbling loss at Aston Villa.

Like Moyes, former Malaga manager Pellegrini has found it hard going since taking over in the close-season and, ahead of Saturday’s clash against Everton, City defender Micah Richards admitted his side have to mount an immediate response.

“We have had two disappointing results,” he said. “We don’t like to lose two games back to back. We have got a winning mentality built into us.

“We have to put it right on Saturday. We are at home and we will give a good performance and hopefully get three points.”