Bastian: Sunderland Won't Give Up

Bastian Schweinsteiger is expecting a testing afternoon when Manchester United face Sunderland at Old Trafford.

The Reds welcome the bottom-placed Black Cats at 15:00 BST on Saturday, hoping to record a third consecutive league victory against a side who have only chalked up two points so far in 2015/16.

Despite the odds favouring United this weekend, Schweinsteiger is refusing to get complacent as Louis van Gaal’s men look to leapfrog neighbours Manchester City to the top of the table.

“We’re second in the league and we’re looking forward to maybe taking the next step,” the German declared to MUTV. “We did a great job at Southampton. For us it’s very important to make three points at home. Sunderland have some problems but I don’t believe this team will give up and it will not be so easy but we are convinced about ourselves. If we do our job very well then we will reward ourselves.”

Having played just short of an hour of United’s goalless draw with Newcastle, who currently sit second from bottom in the league, Schweinsteiger feels the teams hovering around the relegation zone in England pose a greater threat than the lower-placed outfits he met in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

The no.31 added: “We played against Newcastle at home and dominated the match but in the end we played out a draw. For us it’s more important to make the three points, even if we're not playing well. Of course we try to do both – to play well and try to make three points.

“Here in the Premier League it’s not easy to play against these teams and there is a little bit of a difference between the Premier League and German league. You can see the quality in the Premier League is very high. Every team has good players, good individual players so you can see the difference.”

As the midfielder prepares to make his eleventh competitive appearance for the Reds, Schweinsteiger has reiterated his delight to be able to step out at the Theatre of Dreams as a United player.

“I’m at a stage where I won everything in Germany and it was the right moment to make a move and come here,” Bastian continued. “I was very happy when I got the offer from Manchester United. I always had in my head the dream that if I’m going to play in the Premier League it would be for Manchester United with the tradition and the philosophy. “I’m very happy that at the end of the day I’m here. It’s nice of course to play in the Premier League and feel the atmosphere in the stadium – every time it’s a great feeling. I hope we will have a lot of great moments.”