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Defoe the key to Sunderland beating Manchester United

12/02/16

Defoe the key to Sunderland beating Manchester United

Relegation-threatened Sunderland host Manchester United at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League early kick-off on Saturday.

The Black Cats go into the clash on the back of terminating winger Adam Johnson’s contract, following the former-England international pleading guilty to two child sex offences.

Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce will be hoping that that his team can put the controversy over their former player to one side and gain a vital victory against the Red Devils.

The side from the north east will be looking to top scorer Jermain Defoe to fire them to three vital points. The experienced forward has scored ten goals in the English top-flight this season and will always give his team a chance of scoring goals.

Manchester United are undergoing something of an injury crisis in defence at the moment, but have remained relatively solid at the back.

Defoe will use all his experience to test out that United defence to the fullest in Saturday’s game. Even at 33 the striker does not seem to have lost any of his sharpness in front of goal and could be the key to the Black Cats survival this season.

Most of the teams at the bottom of the Premier League table do not have a striker as prolific as Defoe in their team. The experienced striker has done his job this season by finding the net ten times, but his defensive colleagues have let the team down conceding the most goals in the top-flight.

The Black Cats are four points away from safety in 19th position in the top-flight and a victory over United would put Allardyce’s side within touching distance of climbing out the relegation zone. If they do escape the drop no doubt Jermain Defoe’s goals will have played a big part in their survival.

Premier League

Major League Soccer Eastern Conference
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Inter Miami CF 34 16 10 4 2 17
2
FC Cincinnati 33 15 10 3 2 9
3
New York City FC 26 15 8 2 5 3
4
Columbus Crew 24 14 6 6 2 8
5
New York Red Bulls 23 14 6 5 3 4
6
Charlotte FC 22 15 6 4 5 1
7
Toronto FC 22 15 7 1 7 0
8
Philadelphia Union 18 14 4 6 4 4
9
DC United 18 15 4 6 5 -4
10
Nashville SC 16 14 3 7 4 -3
11
Orlando City SC 16 14 4 4 6 -7
12
Atlanta United 13 14 3 4 7 0
13
Montreal Impact 13 14 3 4 7 -14
14
Chicago Fire 11 15 2 5 8 -13
15
New England Revolution 7 13 2 1 10 -17
Major League Soccer Western Conference
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Real Salt Lake 29 15 8 5 2 13
2
Minnesota United 25 13 7 4 2 7
3
Los Angeles Galaxy 25 15 6 7 2 5
4
Los Angeles FC 24 14 7 3 4 6
5
Austin FC 23 15 6 5 4 2
6
Colorado Rapids 22 15 6 4 5 1
7
Vancouver Whitecaps 19 14 5 4 5 3
8
Houston Dynamo 18 14 5 3 6 -2
9
Seattle Sounders 17 15 4 5 6 0
10
Portland Timbers 16 15 4 4 7 -2
11
Saint Louis City 16 14 3 7 4 -2
12
FC Dallas 13 13 3 4 6 -4
13
Sporting Kansas City 11 14 2 5 7 -4
14
San Jose Earthquakes 11 15 3 2 10 -11

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