Sunderland Vs Aston Villa: Official Sunderland Not606 Match Thread please log in to view this image Stadium Of Light please log in to view this image Sunderland could move out of the Premier League relegation zone by beating Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day. The league's basement club have not been out of the bottom three since the second weekend of the season, but victory on Wednesday combined with other results going their way could give them a perfect start to 2014. Pressure is beginning to build on Paul Lambert after Villa's winless streak stretched to five matches with a 1-1 home draw against Swansea City. The Midlands club have only taken one point from a possible 15 and find themselves four points clear of the relegation zone. By contrast, Gus Poyet's side extended their unbeaten run to four league games by coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Cardiff City on Sunday. Sunderland Team News The hosts are without goalkeeper Keiren Westwood (shoulder) and Carlos Cuellar (hip), while Wes Brown serves the final game of a suspension. There are also doubts over Captain John O'Shea, Adam Johnson and on-loan striker Fabio Borini. Villa Team News Ciaran Clark is banned for Villa, who are also set to be without Chris Herd (hamstring), Joe Bennett (back), Charles N'Zogbia (Achilles) and Jores Okore (knee). Christian Benteke (knee) and Ron Vlaar (calf) both missed the draw with Swansea and face late fitness tests. Poyet "We need to use it (momentum)," he said. "We are at home; we have got plenty of games at home against teams in the bottom 10 and it is up to us. "When we (Poyet and his management team) took over the distance was a big gap. Now we are one win away from getting out of the relegation three, which is a great feeling. "Things are going in the right direction; let's hope we can maintain that consistency into the new year and (pick up) another three points. "We need to be ready and do the basics against Villa; keep a clean sheet, keep the ball and take our chances." Lambert "We are only three points off 10th so it is not doom or gloom," Lambert said. "It's how people want to portray it. I've never been a negative person." "If you look at the table, we are sitting in a pretty decent position. We are ahead of where we were last year. "Ideally, we want to play better, there's no two ways about it, but it was important we stopped the sequence (of four successive defeats) on Saturday - that was absolutely paramount, that we stopped our losing run. "We have to have everyone fit, and hopefully one or two are coming back. We are three points behind 10th, which is incredible. "The great thing about the Swansea game was after Boxing Day (when Villa lost 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace) they came out and a young side did not capitulate. "They kept going and had a great desire not to get beat. If you can't win it, it is important not to lose it." Match Appointments Referee: Mike Jones. Assistants: I Hussin, A Garratt. Fourth Official: D Bond. One To Watch Steven Fletcher please log in to view this image We're all hoping that splendid volley will kick start his season and bring us the goals we need to accelerate our steady recovery. Last 4 Meetings [table="width: 500, class: grid, align: center"] [tr] [td]Season[/td] [td]Date[/td] [td]Home[/td] [td]Score[/td] [td]Away[/td] [td]Competition[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2013/2014[/td] [td]Sat 30 Nov[/td] [td]Aston Villa[/td] [td]0-0[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2012/2013[/td] [td]Mon 29 Apr[/td] [td]Aston Villa[/td] [td]6-1[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2012/2013[/td] [td]Sat 03 Nov[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]0-1[/td] [td]Aston Villa[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2011/2012[/td] [td]Sat 21 Apr[/td] [td]Aston Villa[/td] [td]0-0[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [/table] What the 'Experts' Say please log in to view this image Lawrenson This is another big game at the bottom of the table. Sunderland have found a bit of form, going unbeaten in their last four in the league as well as reaching the semi-final of the Capital One Cup. Aston Villa have been heading in the opposite direction over the past few weeks, losing four in a row before their draw with Swansea at the weekend. I would have to back Sunderland here, to add to Villa's problems. I still don't think Paul Lambert's side are in real danger of going down, though. I have said it before that most teams in the Premier League have peaks and troughs and this is undoubtedly Villa's bad spell. A month ago they looked in great shape however and went five league games unbeaten. Since then the games have come thick and fast and their results have been poor but I remain a fan of Lambert and I understand what he is trying to do, on a relatively small budget. Because of that small budget I think Villa's chairman Randy Lerner understands there will be good months and bad months. December has been a bad month. Lawro's prediction: 2-1 Merson This is a massive, massive football match. Sunderland have got some momentum now and coming back from 2-0 down against Cardiff where they never looked like getting anything was important. They've also just beaten Everton away and Villa are struggling. Villa are really worrying me at the moment; I think Swansea had over 70 per cent of the play against them the other day and I think that means Sunderland will win this game. PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 Stats n Facts Sunderland are the only team in the bottom eight not to have won a game against a fellow side currently in that section of the Premier League table. Cardiff (4) were the only Premier League team to score fewer goals than Aston Villa (5) in December. No Aston Villa manager has overseen a Premier League clean sheet in January since Gerard Houllier in 2011. Betting please log in to view this image Links please log in to view this image Click here for links to a choice of match streams
Hopefully the fans will turn up & get behind the team for once. Mannone, Celustka, Bardsley, O'Shea, Diakite, Colback, Cattermole, Ki, Giaccherini, Borini & Fletcher.
Villa forced to rush back Benteke and Vlaar for Sunderland crunch as Lambert attempts to halt slide and calm growing fans' anger Paul Lambert is ready to gamble with the fitness of Ron Vlaar and Christian Benteke at the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day as he attempts to quell growing unrest with his stewardship at Aston Villa. The Scot has recalled Benteke from Belgium where he was undergoing treatment on a knee problem and Dutch international Vlaar has been rushed back following a calf injury that has sidelined him for the past month. And Lambert does so amid the backdrop of uneasiness among Villa's support following a run of five matches that contained four defeats, yielding just a solitary point from last Saturday's draw at Villa Park against Swansea City. Villa's slump over Christmas echoes a similar loss of form 12 months ago and they head into the match on Wearside in the knowledge that, should the visitors suffer another setback, Gus Poyet's side, written off as relegation certainties just a few weeks ago, will have closed the gap on them to just three points. The urgency of the situation has therefore forced Lambert's hand and, with Ciaran Clark suspended, Villa's boss had just one fit recognised centre-half from which to choose. That is why Vlaar was called into first-team training on Monday. Benteke, on the other hand, has looked nothing like the player who cut a swathe through Premier League defences last season, his effectiveness called into question by his injury. He may start on the bench. These measures have only highlighted the panic within the club's ranks and several supporters' web-sites have been openly hostile towards Villa and the 'vision' of which Lambert frequently speaks. Jonathan Fear, editor of the Vital Villa website, said: 'We keep being told there is "vision". We keep being told there is rebuilding. Some may see it, many of us don't. 'What are we building then, a Championship side? 'We couldn't even beat one of the worst teams in the Premier League the other day. (Crystal Palace) We were played off the park by another. (Fulham) 'This is the worst squad we've had in the last 30 years.' Another forum, 'My Old Man Said', wrote an editorial in which Lambert's post-match sound-bites were dissected and ridiculed. Dave Woodhall, editor of the 'Heroes and Villans' website added: 'I don't see the point of getting another manager. He would be our fifth in three-and-a-half years. 'Having said that, it doesn't look like Paul Lambert has learnt from last year. He's certainly not built on any so-called "positives". 'The situation reminds me of one of Graham Taylor's half-time team-talks when we were two-down at Crewe once in an FA Cup tie: ''You got us into this mess. You get us out of it." I'm just not sure we can afford to sack another manager.'
The Villa supporters seem to think they'll bet battered at Sunderland if Vlaar doesn't play. Lambert keeps telling the Villa supporters about their 'progress' and is really pissing them off
i want revenge for the 6-1 me like + rushing players back is never a good thing, they'll target the injury like folk have with fletcher
I've seen 50 football seasons and know the stink of failure ....... Villa have it all over them. The players don't seem to like each other, the supporters are losing faith and Lambert is flapping around like Rolf Harris in the witness box.
Excellent apart from the mileage ......... every one of my games is at least 2000 miles and I did 16 last season. My support if ****ing mint
mate finishing 4th bottom and currently bottom its phenomenal pretty ****ty year really for SAFC on a whole, 2014 is the rise of the phoenix
You wouldn't believe what I have to go through to get to these matches ....... not whinging or bullshitting but I'll be going to Man Utd, having organised travel & tickets and squaring it with our lass. It'll cost around £400 by the time I've paid for flights, hire car, tickets and most expensive of all, drink I know I might come across a self important 'uber-fan' but I put heart into supporting my club as I've done for the last 40 years. TBH I couldn't give a **** what people think. If we lose 6 nowt in the 1st leg it'll be a long flight and a hard pill to swallow ......... never mind, I'll be with 10,000 decent people who'll out-sing the home crowd for 2 hours
People keep telling me that Villa are better away from home so I thought Id check. Despite playing Stoke, Fulham, West Brom, West Ham and Hull they haven't won away since a close 1-0 match at Norwich way back in September. Norwich missed a penalty. They've lost their last 2 at Stoke and Fulham so their away form is hardly terrifying is it?
