Reds and United hold comfortable leads at interval

At half-time in the 3pm fixtures, Manchester United and Liverpool hold comfortable leads at Sunderland and Derby respectively.

Champions United were 3-0 up at the Stadium of Light. Wayne Rooney was put clear in the 20th minute and had no trouble beating Craig Gordon with a cool finish, and he turned provider when he broke forward and crossed to Louis Saha who guided the ball home after 30 minutes.

A sublime Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick in first-half injury-time seemingly put the game beyond Sunderland.

Fernando Torres’ excellent dribble and finish put Liverpool a goal up at Pride Park although Rafael Benitez’s men struggled to extend their lead.

Birmingham held a much-needed 2-0 lead against Middlesbrough.

Stewart Downing sliced Gary McSheffrey’s driven free-kick into his own net in the 21st minute and Mikael Forssell stabbed home after Cameron Jerome flicked on from a corner.

Everton and Bolton could not be separated in the opening 45 minutes at Goodison Park while Steve Bruce’s Wigan were goalless against a much-changed Newcastle side in a hard-fought encounter with few clear chances.