Preview: Sunderland vs. Manchester United

David Moyes's Manchester United side will look to get over their exit at the first hurdle in the FA Cup by establishing a first-leg lead in their League Cup semi-final against Sunderland this evening.

The Red Devils head to the Stadium of Light with increased importance on the League Cup after being dumped out of the other domestic cup competition by Swansea City on Sunday.

Manager Moyes could welcome back the experienced trio of Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick, but star strike duo Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney are likely to be still missing.

If hosts Sunderland are to pile more misery on United, then they will have to end a run of 20 games without a win against the Premier League champions.

Boss Gus Poyet should be able to bring back former United duo Wes Brown and John O'Shea to play in central defence.

When these two sides last met in the Premier League back in October, Adnan Januzaj's quickfire second-half double saw United come from a goal down to win.

Recent form

Sunderland: WLDWDW

United: LLWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Sunderland: Mannone; Celustka, Brown, O'Shea, Dossena; Larsson, Ki, Colback, Johnson; Ji, Altidore

United: De Gea; Smalling, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Januzaj; Welbeck, Hernandez

Sports Mole says: 1-2