Sunderland v Man Utd
Barclays Premier League
Venue: Stadium of Light Date: Sunday, 2 May 2010 Kick-off: 1600 BST
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, local radio, Sky Sports 1 & highlights on Match of the Day 2
Manchester United welcomed back forward Wayne Rooney and defender Rio Ferdinand to training on Friday with both hopeful of returning to the starting XI.
Gary Neville, who has signed a new one-year contract at Old Trafford, is touch and go with a calf problem.
Sunderland are without the suspended Alan Hutton, meaning Phil Bardsley could start against his old club.
Lee Cattermole and John Mensah are hoping to return from injury, but George McCartney and Andy Reid are out.
Sunderland
Suspended: Hutton (one match)
Doubtful: Cattermole (calf), Mensah (knee)
Injured: McCartney & Reid (both hamstring)
Man Utd
Doubtful: Ferdinand & Rooney (both groin), Neville (calf)
Injured: Anderson (knee), Owen (hamstring)
Steve Bruce was Sir Alex Ferguson's first Premier League-winning captain, but on Saturday the former pupil will be hoping to outwit the master and end his former club's pursuit of a record 19th league title.
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After working with him, he will not expect any favours - he knows that's not in the remit at all... He will be expecting our team to perform and play well
Steve Bruce on Sir Alex Ferguson
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United head to Sunderland knowing anything less than three points will surely call time on their pursuit of Chelsea, who are at Liverpool earlier in the day.
Ferguson will be demanding a better performance than his side managed in the reverse fixture, when the Black Cats came within seconds of victory at Old Trafford only to be denied by Anton Ferdinand's late own goal.
Only Chelsea and Aston Villa have come away from the Stadium of Light with maximum points this season, and in the in-form Darren Bent, Sunderland boast a striker with his eye on the Premier League golden boot and out to prove his World Cup credentials.
But United's record on Wearside is strong - their last defeat came in the League Cup nearly 10 years ago, while they have won 12 and lost just one of their 17 Premier League meetings.
Head-to-head
• Sunderland's last league win over Manchester United came in March 1997. Since then Sir Alex Ferguson's side have won 11 and drawn four of their last 15 league meetings.
• United have won five and lost none of their last seven trips to Wearside.
• Ferguson has won 10 and drawn three of the 13 meetings with former skipper Steve Bruce as opposing coach.
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606: DEBATE
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Sunderland
• The Black Cats kept their first clean sheet in eight games last time out.
• But they have lost only two of their last 10 games, winning five of those matches.
• Steve Bruce's side have lost just one of their last 17 Premier League matches at the Stadium of Light.
Man Utd
• It is six years since the club last won their final four matches of the season. In 2002-03 they beat Blackburn, Tottenham, Charlton and Everton on their way to the title.
• United have the best defensive record in the division, conceding 28 goals in 36 matches. They have kept four clean sheets in a row away from home in the top flight.
• Wayne Rooney has scored 148 club goals, while Paul Scholes needs one more to register 150 for Manchester United.
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Sunderland
Bent: 25 goals (24 league); Jones: 8 goals (8 league)
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Man Utd
Rooney: 34 goals (26 league);
Berbatov: 12 goals (12 league)
Referee: Steve Bennett
Assistant referees: Nigel Bannister & Robert Madley
Fourth official: Peter Walton
Sunderland (W1-0 v Hull, a): Gordon, Hutton, Turner (Ferdinand 46), Kilgallon, Richardson, Campbell, Henderson, Meyler, Malbranque (Bardsley 46), Bent, Jones (Cana 60). Subs Not Used: Carson, Zenden, Da Silva, Mwaruwari.
Man Utd (W3-1 v Tottenham, h): Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (Macheda 79), Vidic, Jonathan Evans, Evra (O'Shea 67), Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs, Valencia (Carrick 59), Berbatov, Nani. Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Hargreaves, Brown, Gibson.
Man Utd scorers: Berbatov 51, Ferdinand 90 (o.g.)
Sunderland scorers: Bent 7, Jones 58
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