Trafford in the Premier League despite having

Liverpool and Sunderland both have injury concerns ahead of Saturdays Premier League clash at Anfield. Martin Skrtels return to action has been delayed by two to three weeks after the Reds defender suffered a setback in his recovery, while Sam Allardyce is sweating on the fitness of Yann MVila and Jeremain Lens.The Black Cats are winless in three league matches after their 1-0 loss to Manchester City, and they have not beaten opponents Liverpool in their last six Premier League attempts. Yann MVila is a fitness concern for manager Sam Allardyce Following their midweek defeat by top-of-the-table Leicester, Jurgen Klopps side are 11 points off the top four and face a quick turnaround with an FA Cup fourth-round replay against West Ham scheduled for Tuesday night.Team newsLiverpool midfielder Joe Allen is expected to overcome a shoulder problem and should be available, but Skrtel is out after aggravating a hamstring injury.Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Philippe Coutinho will not be available until next weeks FA Cup replay at the earliest. Joe Allen should be available after recovering from a shoulder injury Sunderlands MVila was unable to train on Thursday as a result of a foot problem picked up after a challenge by Citys Sergio Aguero on Tuesday, although he is less of a doubt than Lens, who is nursing a groin injury.Central defender Younes Kaboul will return to the squad after recovering from a hamstring problem which has sidelined him since before Christmas, but midfielder Sebastian Larsson (knee) is still out.Opta statsSunderland have scored in each of their last seven away league games; their best run in the competition since April 2013.Christian Benteke has scored six goals in seven top-flight appearances against Sunderland. Christian Benteke is two goals shy of 50 in the Premier League The Liverpool striker is two goals away from netting 50 in the Premier League (currently 48), but hasnt scored in his five league appearances since scoring the winner against Sunderland in December.Roberto Firmino has scored four goals in his last four league matches; this after scoring just once in his opening 17 appearances in the competition.Liverpool averaged more points under Brendan Rodgers in the Premier League this season (1.5) than they have under Klopp (1.4). Jurgen Klopp has less points on a per-game basis than predecessor Brendan Rodgers Sunderland have the worst points per game average of any current Premier League side in the month of February (0.63).The Black Cats have made a league-low 1408 successful passes in the final third of the pitch this season and have the lowest passing accuracy in this area of the pitch (55.7 per cent).Mersons predictionLiverpool are struggling at the moment, Klopp has come in and nothing much has changed. They sort of rolled over at Leicester, if Im being honest.Theyve got a hard FA Cup game at West Ham coming up, he rested his players for the first tie at Anfield and that confused me. Liverpool made 10 changes for the FA Cup match against West Ham Surely he should have gone the other way round and gone all out in the cup as theyre not going to win the league or get fourth. Im rather cautiously going for Liverpool here, although Im not sure why.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds: 15/2)BettingLiverpool are 4/11 favourites with Sky Bet with Sunderland 8/1 and the draw available at 18/5. The Reds have not conceded in their last three league meetings with the Black Cats and are 5/6 to keep another clean sheet. Jermain Defoe walks off with the match ball after his hat-trick at Swansea This fixture finished goalless last year and its 12/1 for another blank on Saturday. Benteke scored the only goal when the sides met in December and he is available at 14/1 in a 1-0 scorecast. Jermain Defoe is 11/4 to net anytime for Sunderland with Fabio Borini 14/1 to net the opener against his former club.Check out tips from our Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp, Charlie Nicholas, Phil Thompson and Matt Le Tissier here. 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Stitched Avalanche Jerseys .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. MANCHESTER, England -- Henrikh Mkhitaryans vision and Anthony Martials cool finishing helped Manchester United into the English League Cup semifinals as two of the teams out-of-favor forwards showed their worth on Wednesday.Uniteds 4-1 win over West Ham at Old Trafford was illuminated by Mkhitaryans touch and eye for a pass in only his third start for the club since his high-profile move from Borussia Dortmund in the offseason.The Armenia captain set up goals scored early in each half -- by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Martial -- before getting a standing ovation from United fans when substituted in the final minutes. By then, Ibrahimovic and Martial had each grabbed their second goals of a comfortable win that set up a semifinal match against Hull.United manager Jose Mourinho has been holding back Mkhitaryan while he adapts to the English game. On this evidence, its time for the last seasons Bundesliga Player of the Year to be unleashed on a regular basis.We were waiting for his adaptation, Mourinho said, and it looks like its coming.Martial has featured more than Mkhitaryan this season but has also been often overlooked by Mourinho, who has many options in his attacking midfield positions in players like Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Wayne Rooney and Memphis Depay.This brace doubled the France internationals goal output for the season.In the other quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Southampton beat a largely second-string Arsenal team 2-0 thanks to first-half goals by Jordy Clasie and Ryan Bertrand at Emirates Stadium. Southampton advanced to the semifinals of Englands second-tier cup competition for the first time since the 1986-87 season, and will now face Liverpool.The semifinals are played over two legs in January.Mourinho was absent from the dugout for the match after being handed a one-game toucchline ban hours before kickoff, a punishment being sent to the stands against West Ham in a Premier League fixture at the weekend.dddddddddddd.Mourinho was able to talk to his players before kickoff and at halftime, and was able to communicate with his staff on the bench during the game. One of his decisions was to send Bastian Schweinsteiger on as a late substitute for Martial, for the former Germany captains first appearance of the season.Asked where he watched the match, Mourinho, who wasnt spotted in the stands at Old Trafford, said: Secret.He was happy to speak more about his teams display, one of its best of the season from an attacking point of view. United has struggled to put away teams at Old Trafford in the Premier League despite having lots of chances and shots -- the team has drawn its last four league games at home -- but is having no such problems in the League Cup and Europa League.I am pleased with the goals; the performance, we are used to, said Mourinho, who added that his team produced beautiful, attacking football.Ibrahimovic ran onto a backheeled pass from Mkhitaryan to put United 1-0 ahead in the second minute, only for West ham to equalize in the 35th through Ashley Fletcher, who spent seven years at Old Trafford before leaving this summer.Martial tucked away Mkhitaryans cross to restore Uniteds lead in the 48th, and scored a second goal in the 62nd after good interplay from Ibrahimovic and Antonio Valencia. Ibrahimovic completed the scoring in injury time.A disappointing evening for West Ham was worsened by the sight of Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio going off injured.On Tuesday, Liverpool beat Leeds 2-0 and Hull beat Newcastle in a penalty shootout. ' ' '