Saturday afternoon’s game at Old Trafford sees second place Manchester United face bottom of the table Sunderland.

Louis van Gaal’s side go in to the match on the back of back-to-back wins, having followed last weekend’s come-from-behind win over Southampton with victory over Ipswich Town in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday evening.

Should rivals Manchester City lose at Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s early kick-off, the Red Devils could move into first place for the first time since the opening weekend of the 2013/14 campaign with three points.

Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Paddy McNair all miss out though fellow defender Phil Jones could start after making his return from injury from the bench midweek.

Man of the moment Anthony Martial, who has four goals in four appearances since arriving from Monaco is favourite to net first here at 4.5 (7/2) with a number of firms ahead of Wayne Rooney, who is 6.0 (5/1) having hit his first Old Trafford strike in almost six months last time out.

The home win is widely available at 1.22 (2/9), with the visitors as highly priced as the 17.0 (16/1) on offer from Bet Victor. The draw is a 7.5 (13/2) chance with Bet 365.

Dick Advocat’s men, who have lost their last three games in all competitions by an aggregate score of 7-1, sit bottom of the Premier League with just two points from six games.

Jermain Defoe and Jack Rodwell are both doubtful with hamstring and ankle problems respectively, though Younes Kaboul is expected to return from suspension.

Steven Fletcher is 21.0 (20/1) to open the scoring with Bet 365 with Fabio Borini a 23.0 (22/1) shot with 888 Sport.

A Wayne Rooney brace was enough to see United take the points in last season’s corresponding fixture back in February, though the previous meeting in Manchester was won by the Black Cats with Seb Larsson getting the only goal of the game towards the end of the 2013/14 campaign.

A home win to nil this time around can be backed at 1.98 (39/40) with Bet Victor, while the same firm offer 2.5 (6/4) for there to be two or fewer goals in the game.