Official: Manchester United versus Sunderland fixture date and time confirmed
Official: Manchester United versus Sunderland fixture date and time confirmed Manchester United face a seven-game run-in that will determine whether they play in next season’s Champions League and possibly whether Michael Carrick will be appointed as head coach on a permanent basis. After a fine run of form since taking over in mid-January, Carrick’s side have surged to third place in the Premier League table and are now firm favourites to finish in the top four, at least. Given that England are leading the coefficient rankings to be granted an extra place at Europe’s top table next year, it is highly likely that finishing fifth or above will result in Champions League qualification – an extra boost for the chasing pack.
Fixture confirmation With that in mind, United will fancy their chances of ending the season in the top quarter of the division, but they must pass some tricky assignments along the way. One of these is a trip to Wearside to face a Sunderland side who have enjoyed a fine season back in the top flight of English football. With multiple fixtures being changed for television coverage in recent weeks, manutd.
com have confirmed the Sunderland clash will take place on 9 May at 15:00 GMT, a rare traditional Saturday kick-off time for United. In fact, it is only the fourth 15:00 kick-off United have had this term, ironically with one of the others being the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in October. That match will be remembered by Senne Lammens and Benjamin Sesko in particular, with the Belgian stopper making his debut for the club and the big striker netting his first Old Trafford goal in a comfortable 2-0 win.
Mason Mount opened the scoring on the day and will hope to be available for the trip after missing out in recent weeks due to another frustrating injury setback. Run-in lowdown United’s last visit to the Stadium of Light came in 2017, when goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford gave José Mourinho’s side a 3-0 win. Michael Carrick will be delighted if his United side can repeat the feat, although Regis Le Bris will expect his men to pose much more of a threat having played well in front of their own fans for the majority of the campaign.
With this fixture now set in stone, United’s only game without a confirmed kick-off time is the visit of Nottingham Forest, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday 17 May, with the FA Cup final the stand-alone clash on the Saturday. The curtain comes down on the season with the trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, with all Premier League matches kicking off at the same time, Sunday 24 May at 16:00 GMT. Therefore, United’s schedule for the run-in is listed below, with Carrick and his side desperate to end the season with a flourish and finish in those all-important Champions League positions: Monday 13 April: Leeds United (H) 20:00 GMT Saturday 18 April: Chelsea (A) 20:00 GMT Monday 27 April: Brentford (H) 20:00 GMT Sunday 3 May: Liverpool (H) 15:30 GMT Saturday 9 May: Sunderland (A) 15:00 GMT Sunday 17 May: Nottingham Forest (H) 15:00 BST – TBC Sunday 24 May: Brighton & Hove Albion (A) 16:00 GMT Should United achieve their objective of a top four finish, Carrick’s chances of securing the head coach job on a permanent basis will be greatly enhanced, given the state of affairs at Old Trafford when Ruben Amorim was dismissed.