MATCH Day Preview: Man U Vs Sun/ Newscastle Vs Aston V

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Gus Poyet is wary of a positive reaction from Manchester United after their defeat at Swansea City when Sunderland visit Old Trafford in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.
United suffered a 2-1 loss at the Liberty Stadium last weekend, allowing Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur to move within striking distance of a top four spot.




The Red Devils will be looking to atone for their home defeat to Poyet’s Sunderland last season, when Sebastian Larsson's strike secured a 1-0 triumph that contributed to the Wearsiders' remarkable end-of-season surge that secured their safety.
While Louis van Gaal's side have won one of their last six away matches, the Dutchman continues to get positive results at home. United have won 10 of their 13 Barclays Premier League matches at Old Trafford this season.

But Poyet pinpointed United’s recent win over Burnley, which was criticised by Van Gaal, as cause for optimism.
"Van Gaal was not happy about Burnley game but they scored three goals, but Burnley had plenty of chances," Poyet told www.safc.com.

"We need to look at that game as a good opportunity to play a certain way, be calm, and manage the game in certain way that it will suit our result.
"It is going to be tough, they have to come back [after the Swansea loss], they know us because of what happened last year.
"We need to be spot on, especially in defence. We need to concentrate in what we do."
Form is not on Sunderland's side, though, after just one win in their last nine, but Anthony Reveilliere hopes they can take confidence from Swansea's win.
"We know that it's a challenge that is never easy there," he told The Shields Gazette. "But at the same time, they've had a few difficulties this year and lost at Swansea last weekend.
"It's still Manchester United, and they've brought in a lot of players this season.
"But we'll be ready for it and we've done well away from home this season."

Emanuele Giaccherini looks likely to miss the rest of the season after undergoing further ankle surgery this week, while there are doubts over Billy Jones (ankle), Jack Rodwell (calf) and Will Buckley (knee).

United's injury list has one major addition to it after Saturday's defeat in Wales, Robin van Persie left the Liberty Stadium on crutches and could spend the next month out of action.
Michael Carrick has also been on the sidelines with a calf injury, while youngster James Wilson suffered a hip problem during a Barclays Under-21 Premier League match earlier this week.

Manchester United (from): De Gea, Johnstone, Valdes, Lindegaard, Blackett, Evans, Jones, McNair, Rafael, Rojo, Shaw, Smalling, Blind, Di Maria, Fellaini, Herrera, James, Januzaj, Mata, Powell, Valencia, Young, Falcao, Rooney.

Sunderland (from): Mannone, Pantilimon, Brown, Coates, O'Shea, Reveillere, Van Aanholt, Vergini, Alvarez, Bridcutt, Buckley, Cattermole, Gomez, Johnson, Larsson, Defoe, Fletcher, Graham , Wickham.

Match Appointments
Referee: Roger East Assistants: G Beswick, R West Fourth Official: M Atkinson

Match Facts
Robin van Persie has scored six goals in five BPL starts at home to Sunderland for Manchester United and Arsenal.
Sunderland are the only team in the BPL not to score a goal in the 15 minutes directly after half–time.
United have won 10 and lost one of 13 Barclays Premier League home matches against Sunderland (D2).
The Black Cats have drawn more matches (13) than any team in BPL history after 26 match days.

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Newcastle United manager John Carver expects an Aston Villa team with a "new lease of life" to provide a tough test in Saturday's Barclays Premier League encounter at St James' Park.

Carver's men were beaten 5-0 by defending champions Manchester City last time out in a match ensured the Magpies had won once in their last eight.

A home match against relegation-threatened Villa, who have not won in the league since 7 December, presents a chance for Newcastle to end that run.

Despite the visitors' 2-1 home defeat to Stoke City in Tim Sherwood's first match in charge, Carver has already seen improvements in the Midlands club.

"I've seen the difference in Villa straight away under Tim," Carver said. "They are going front to back a bit quicker.

"Villa have got a new lease of life, more energy, and it won't be an easy game for us."

The hosts have received a boost with the news that midfielder Jonas Gutierrez is in the senior squad for the first time since recovering from testicular cancer.

Although Gutierrez could be in line for an emotional return, Newcastle still have a host of injury issues to deal with.

Remy Cabella is a doubt with a knee problem that forced him to miss the drubbing at the Etihad Stadium, while Jack Colback is suspended.

Teenage winger Rolando Aarons (hamstring) is still out and is joined on the sidelines by Siem de Jong (lung), Paul Dummett (knee), Robert Elliot (thigh), Steven Taylor (Achilles) and Cheick Tiote (knee).

Villa's only confirmed injury absentee is Kieran Richardson because of a knock. Ron Vlaar is banned, while Aly Cissokho, Alan Hutton and Philippe Senderos (calf) are all doubts.

Sherwood conceded Villa's performance was below par versus Stoke, who claimed all three points courtesy of a late Victor Moses penalty following a foul by Vlaar that saw the Dutchman sent off.

But he remains confident he can turn around the fortunes of a team who have scored just 13 league goals all season.

"It wasn't great against Stoke," Sherwood said. "I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence, but we should have got a point and that would have taken us out of the relegation zone and given us a bounce.

"I had five days of training [before Stoke] so give us a break. It will take time. I have managed for one game and scored one goal. Good ratio."

Newcastle United (from): Alnwick, Krul, Coloccini, Good, Haidara, Janmaat, Williamson, Abeid, Anita, Cabella, Guiterrez, Obertan, Sissoko, Ameobi, Armstrong, Cisse, Ferreyra, Gouffran, Perez, Riviere.

Aston Villa (from): Given, Guzan, Steer, Bacuna, Baker, Cissokho, Clark, Herd, Hutton, Lowton, Okore, Senderos, Cleverley, Cole, Delph, Gil, Grealish, N'Zogbia, Sanchez, Westwood, Agbonlahor, Benteke, Burke, Kozak, Sinclair, Weimann.

Match Appointments
Referee: Lee Mason Assistants: J Collin, M Wilkes Fourth Official: S Attwell

Match Facts
Newcastle United have kept one clean sheet in their last 14 BPL matches and won only three fixtures in that run (W3 D4 L7).
Aston Villa are without a win against the Magpies in their last seven Barclays Premier League matches (D3 L4).
Christian Benteke has scored in two of his three BPL appearances against Newcastle.
The Villans are 11 BPL matches without a win (D3 L8). Only once in BPL history have they gone longer without victory (13, ended