Roker Riches: Placing Our Bets For Visit Of Champions

There was slim pickings from last weekend's games, with only myself in Dave making a small profit. Dave correctly went for Daniel Sturridge to score the first goal (though he has the referee to thank for this one coming through), while I placed my money on Luis Suarez getting an inevitable goal. Let's hope we have better luck this week:

Dave Boyle

While Manchester United currently sit in an unfamiliar twelfth position in the league, with the media feasting over David Moyes' faltering start to life at Old Trafford, the simple fact is that they have more than enough to see off this Sunderland side and if anything will be desperate to set the record straight following a defeat last weekend against a Stephane Sessegnon inspired West Brom. That said, this is a Manchester United side that, as The Baggies showcased, can be vulnerable and as we have seen in flashes, this Sunderland side can cause problems for the opposition. With this said I am going to go with what seems to be a popular market this season; match result and both teams to score - with the away side taking all three of the points on offer.

For my other bet I am going to stick with the Premier League but turn my attentions to Sunday's action. Arsenal have been in fantastic form of late and confidence among the camp must be through the roof. With that said I think they are a decent price to continue their run with a victory at The Hawthornes.

• Sunderland v Man Utd; Both teams to score and Man Utd to win - 11/4 - £3 Stake
• Arsenal to beat West Brom - 4/5 - £5 Stake

Craig Clark

It would probably be simplest to just bet against Sunderland and win some money out of my misery but instead, I thought I'd take a glance at some of the specials on this weekend's game. If Wes Brown was playing you could probably cut the anytime own goal odds in half, but with O'Shea likely to be in the side, there's still at least one ex Man Utd head around to potentially help Moyes out of his Premier League rut. Alternatively, if the under pressure Manchester United boss sticks with Rio Ferdinand, his form suggests he's as liable as anyone to knock the ball past De Gea.

The Premier League has started in particularly unpredictable fashion so I'm steering clear of it this week. Over in the Bundesliga, anyone playing Eintracht Braunschweig will fancy their chances and Wolfsburg have a solid home record thus far while Hannover are good value to beat Hertha Berlin at the HDI-Arena. Over in Ligue 1, Fabrizio Ravanelli's Ajaccio have recorded decent results in their last two games but should find it too difficult away at high flying Lille. Staying in France, stuttering Saint-Etienne are likely to come away with nothing from their trip to top of the table Monaco. If you've watched any of Milan this season then you'll have noticed how awful they are so expect unbeaten Juve to defeat them at home in one of Serie A's big clashes this weekend. Finally, in Spain, midtable Malaga should be too strong for lowly Osasuna.

• Anytime own goal scorer in Sunderland v Manchester United - 15/2 - £2 Stake
• Wolfsburg, Hannover, Lille, Monaco, Juventus & Malaga to win - 137/10 - £2 Stake

Nick Holden

I'm doing really rubbish aren't I? I can't honestly say I'm particularly surprised, but the nature of the feature means I'm going to keep throwing good money after bad with more dodgy picks! One that's caught my eye this week is Sunderland to come from behind and win or draw at 6/1. Yes, we haven't got a point since the second week, but United look pretty rubbish this season and there's never going to be a better time to get a result out of them. Add this to a decent performance against a Liverpool side with, I'd argue, better cutting edge than United and I'm fairly hopeful of us at least managing a draw. However, we'll still obviously concede first.

In the wider football world, Aaron Ramsey has been in noticeably sensational form this season, and is at 8/1 to open the scoring against West Brom. How could I resist?

• Sunderland to come from behind and win or draw - 6/1 - £2 Stake
• Aaron Ramsey first goalscorer - 8/1 - £2 Stake

Simon Walsh

Word on the street is that life is good at the Academy of Light under Kevin Ball, however no matter how good it is, and how badly Manchester United are playing, I can't see there being a result which veers away from the expectation.

In this one I can see it being a bit like the Arsenal game, but less high-scoring. A battling 1-0 or 2-1 defeat. With the odds being slightly higher on the latter, I'll go with a small bet on that.

Elsewhere a tricky little accumulator on draws in Hull vs Villa, Soton vs Swansea and Cardiff vs The Mags pays dividends.

• Manchester United to win 2-1 - 8/1 - £2 Stake
• Hull vs Villa, Soton vs Swansea and Cardiff vs Newcastle all draws - 38/1 - £2 Stake

Luke Bowley

It's hard to know what to expect from this weekend's game. Man Utd are having a torrid time of it at the moment, and Sunderland looked a much better side against Liverpool last week, but they're still Man Utd, and we're still Sunderland, so you'd still expect the away side to get a win. I can't find any bet that particularly takes my fancy, so I'm going to copy Dave's one.

Elsewhere, Leyton Orient have a stunning start to the season, and they're at goododds to beat Oldham, so I'll put my money there.

• Both teams to score and Manchester Utd to win - 11/4 - £3 stake
• Leyton Orient to beat Oldham - 13/8 - £5 stake

Stephen Goldsmith

As this is a late entry of sorts, nobody will probably ever read this. I couldn't give everybody another free shot at me though so I've had to brush many work commitments to one side to have my say. I wad actually gonna have a dabble at a Fellaini based bet but I've spotted Luke's both teams to score thingy and fancy a bit of that. Is that ethical? Who cares? Not like anyone is reading this. I also fancy Villa at Hull.