Premiership / Dan Fitch / 02 May 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Manchester United's visit to Sunderland's Stadium of Light could be title-deciding match and Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch thinks that the home side and Darren Bent will make things tough.

One of the drawbacks of the fact that Premier League games are now played at staggered times across the weekend for the purposes of television, is that the scheduling can have a huge affect on the importance of the matches.

Were Liverpool to beat or draw with Chelsea in Sunday's lunchtime kick-off, then Manchester United's later visit to Sunderland would be a title-deciding match.

If Chelsea were to beat Liverpool however, then all United could do is to try their best to win and then pray that Wigan pull off a miracle at Stamford Bridge next week. If they're going to meddle, then why didn't Sky reverse the times of these fixtures?

One can only assume that whilst United would be naturally quite deflated if they went into this match trailing Chelsea by four points, Sir Alex Ferguson would still get them pumped up for victory.

Standing in their way is a Sunderland side whose manager Steve Bruce, has promised will give no favours to his former team. On the face of it, the mid-table Makems don't have a lot to play for, but there's at least one man within their ranks who will surely be busting a gut.

Darren Bent trails Wayne Rooney by just two goals in the race to be the Premier League's top scorer and knows that by claiming the honour, he will heap pressure on Fabio Capello to name him in the World Cup squad. Bent can be backed at [10.0] to finish as top scorer.

When the goal-scorer markets open on Betfair closer to kick off, expect Bent to be priced at around [8.5] to score first and [3.5] to score at any time. There is speculation that Wayne Rooney could return to the United side and he will lead the betting at about [4.0] and [1.9], with Dimitar Berbatov at [5.0] and [2.25].

There are also rumours that Rio Ferdinand could be back, after he returned to training with Rooney on Friday. Gary Neville is a doubt a calf problem.

Sunderland will be without the on-loan Alan Hutton, while George McCartney and Andy Reid are out with injuries. Lee Cattermole and John Mensah could both return, depending on late fitness tests.

Last weekend's 1-0 victory over Hull was Sunderland's first clean sheet in eight games. Their last home four games have broken the 2.5 goals barrier and with four of their last five home games against United having done likewise, it's no surprise that overs is favourite at [1.87], with unders at [2.1].

United have not lost to Sunderland in the league since an away defeat back in 1997. But Steve Bruce's team did almost win at Old Trafford this season, before being pegged back for a 2-2 draw and are unbeaten in their last nine home games.

Sunderland are the [9.6] outsiders, with the draw at [5.5] and Manchester United at [1.39]. I can't recommend backing United at that price. Sunderland is a difficult place to get a result and with a lot at stake, I see a nervy United perhaps sealing a win late in the game, as they did against Spurs last week.

Therefore, I like the draw/Manchester United at [4.8], with United/United available at [2.08]. With Bent in form, I also like the [2.06] for both teams to score and the prices for a 2-1 United win at [9.6] and 3-2 at [36.0].

Ferguson's side can be backed at [2.6] to win their 19th league title and if you think that Chelsea will fail to win at Liverpool, then this price will be dropping dramatically, especially if United go on to beat Sunderland.