Capital One Cup: Sunderland v Manchester United

Sunderland are short in the defensive area of the pitch, which may benefit Manchester United going into tomorrows Capital One Cup Semi Final first leg at the Stadium of Light. To be fair though it is not the case that David Moyes side has much trouble winning away but do struggle when they are at home at Old Trafford.



Manchester United have won this trophy on four occasions before but had to wait until 1992 before picking up their first. The other three have come in the last ten years and so, unlike most other competitions, United are less than prolific.

For Sunderland their history of the cup is very much bittersweet. The only time they have reached the final of the competition was back in 1985 when it was known as the Milk Cup. Losing out to Norwich City in the Final thanks to an own goal they missed out on the trophy. In one of the few times in the cup history though, both finalists were also relegated from the top division. With Sunderland in a similar situation in the league now, and one vulnerable Manchester United side between them and another Final, will the demons have a chance to be exorcised almost 30 years later.

Over the years in the league Sunderland home games against Manchester United actually have the better of the ties with the home side only losing twenty one times in sixty one, although fourteen were tied games. As far as this particular competition goes though these sides have met four times but never past the fourth round.

In 2000 it was Round 4 when the two met with the home side winning in extra time to knock out Manchester United. The other three games were all played in the same season in a two week period. An initial 2-2 tied game at United was played to the same scoreline back at Sunderland. Manchester won the second replay 1-0 and progressed, only to be knocked out two rounds later by Everton.

Jason is a Freelance Soccer Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @PACityboy and www.facebook.com/jasonbardwell1979.