Sunderland welcome Stoke City to the Stadium of Light in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland lost at Sheffield United and Stoke lost at home to Burnley. Sunderland named an unchanged lineup to face the blades. The Black Cats started well but failed to capitalise when Patrick Roberts had his first half penalty saved. Sunderland could have been punished when Mepham was sent off for a foul just outside the area. However, a moment of madness by Soutter brought the contest level as he was given a second yellow. Ex-Everton man Tom Davies proved to be the unlikely hero, five minutes after coming on when he hit a firm shot that beat an unsighted Patterson. Chris Mepham is suspended after his red card and Luke O’Nien is expected to return to the centre of defence. Dennis Cirkin is available for selection. Huggins, Seelt, Samed, Poveda, Mundle, Browne & Abdullahi remain injured. Stoke lost 2-0 at home to an in-form Burnley side who climbed to 2nd place with goals from Rodriguez and Brownhill. Former Black Cat, Lyndon Gooch will be very keen to start but he was an unused substitute in the defeat to the Clarets. Regis le Bris: "We are frustrated at the end of the game, because we demonstrated a good level against one of the strongest teams in the league. "We controlled the game and we were dominant but we didn't score. "I hope we can keep this mindset because we have a good level, but we have to find some details to change the dynamic. "We created chances, so it's a shame. We did well but it was not enough." Presser at 1pm on Thursday: Narcis Pelach: "In the last 10 minutes [of the first half] we were very good and we got a little bit of momentum. "But then in the second half, when they score, of course it goes down a little bit because it’s more difficult. "We changed formation again to try to be more aggressive. "And yeah, it's a pity because then the second goal, with the penalty, the game is gone and they have quality, they have a lot of talent in their squad and in the changes that they do." Form: Match Appointments Referee: CRAIG PAWSON Assistant Referees: Marc Perry & Bhupinder Singh Gill Fourth Official: Leigh Doughty Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-3-3) Patterson, Cirkin, Ballard, O’Nien, Hume, Neil, Jobe, Rigg, Watson, Mayenda, Isidor, Subs: Moore, Hjelde, Johnson, Roberts, Alese, Aleksic, Aouchiche, Rusyn, Connolly. Injured: Huggins, Seelt, Samed, Abdullahi, Browne, Mundle, Cirkin. Suspended: Mepham Stoke City (3-5-2) Johansson, Gibson, Phillips, Wilmot, Bocat, Jun-Ho, Burger, Seko, Tchamadeu, Manhoef, Cannon. Subs: Koumas, Moran, Vidigal, Gooch, Bonham, Tezgel, Sidibe, Rose, Thompson Injured: Gallagher, Lawal, Pearson. Betting Odds: Sunderland 3/4 Stoke City 18/5 Draw 5/2 Prutton Predicts: meh My two pence: A good performance against leaders Sheffield United but we just couldn’t score a goal despite the possession and opportunities. We need to get a few wins on the board to avoid losing more ground with the teams around us. It will be good to see Gooch make an appearance, as long as he doesn’t score. Hopefully our injury list gets a bit shorter over the next few weeks. Stoke are no mugs but we should have enough to get the win this one. I’m going for a 2-0 home win. Live Stream: Live on Sky Sports+ https://www.safc.com/live Available to overseas fans only Ha’way the Lads
I was lining up a few pre-match pints with someone before the match and they agreed it won't be too busy. They said it'll be a lower than 40K crowd with poor opposition, early KO time, live on TV and freezing ... ... made me wonder why I'm up at 6.30am to sit on trains all bloody day I agree with you, 2-0 and a totally professional performance.
Our results against this lot are pretty unpredictable so not sure about this one Need to get back to 3 points as it's been a while since we did. Will accept any old performance as long as we win. Thanks RTB, HTL
I have to disagree with RTB on one thing, I don’t think Gooch will be keen to play. He was here so long, and clearly loves the club, I think he’d be happy to sit this one out personally.
Lyndon Gooch is a top lad and a good professional. If he's selected to play,he'll give his all and do his best for Stoke,no matter who the opponents. He's not a Chopra.
I'm going for a hard fough 1-0 win. Stoke will come to shut up shop and try and hit us on the break as they will know we are struggling to score goals. I'd like to see Connoly alongside Isidor for an increased goal threat...but no idea how the rest would work
Looking forward to this one, Stoke in terrible form and a chance to get back to winning ways. A nice early goal or 3 would be very welcome
