Sunderland Vs Chelsea: Official Sunderland Not606 Match Thread please log in to view this image Stadium Of Light please log in to view this image Chelsea travel to Sunderland on Wednesday aiming to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal. Chelsea have moved into second place in the Premier League after winning their last two outings against West Ham and Southampton. Jose Mourinho's side trail leaders Arsenal by four points and he will be looking to keep pace with them by taking all three points on Wearside. Chelsea have a great record against Sunderland having won 16 and lost one of their last 17 Premier League encounters. Sunderland go into the game second from bottom of the table, but boosted by the fact they have won their last two home games against Newcastle and Manchester City. Gus Poyet's picked up a point from their draw at Aston Villa on Saturday, but he will know they will need to maintain their improving home form if they are to steer themselves clear of trouble at the wrong end of the table. The Uruguayan, who is a big fans' favourite at Chelsea, will be hoping to cause an upset against his old club and earn only Sunderland's third Premier League win of the campaign. Sunderland Team News Defender John O'Shea has handed Sunderland boss Gus Poyet a major boost by training ahead of Wednesday night's tough clash. The Republic of Ireland international ended Saturday's 0-0 draw at Aston Villa with a groin problem, but appears to have recovered and is in line to retain his place. However, keeper Keiren Westwood (shoulder) and defender Carlos Cuellar (hip) remain on the injured list and will not be involved once again. Chelsea Team News Chelsea manager Mourinho will be without Brazilian duo David Luiz and Oscar for the trip to the Stadium of Light. Luiz is still struggling with a knee injury while Oscar was forced off in Sunday's 3-1 win over Southampton with an ankle problem, although Mourinho is not expecting either player to be missing for too long. Samuel Eto'o is back in contention following his groin injury with midfielder Marco van Ginkel (knee) the only long-term absentee. Poyet ON the 4-0 loss chelsea suffered at the hands of Sunderland in 99 in which Poyet played: “It was the worst half-time I ever had in my life,” he told the Gazette. “You knew you had to go out again 4-0 down after being destroyed. “There was no place to hide. No trees to hide behind. Everyone could see you.” “They called me to get a bottle of champagne as the opposition man of the match. “I thought it was a joke. I thought they were taking the mick. “I’d never had it before, and we’d been embarrassed on the pitch, and then you have to go to that room and get a bottle of champagne. “But they were waiting for me outside (the dressing room), and until I got there, I didn’t realise it wasn’t a joke. “I have never received a bottle of champagne in such an embarrassing situation. “You have to respect the sponsors, but then there’s all the red and white colours around which wasn’t good at the time. “You didn’t want to leave it though because that would be disrespectful. “Then you get on to the bus and everybody is looking at you with a bottle of champagne. “Somehow I took it, but my feelings were terrible.” Mourinho “I was analysing their match against Newcastle at home and Man City at home, these were the matches I focused on,” the Portuguese said. “I think they are better than the points they have, the quality of their players is not comparable with some teams in that part of the table, but I think they are in a moment where one point doesn’t make a big difference. “They need three points, they need two or three victories to get out of the dangerous area. I don’t think they can play in a defensive way, that is why they have a positive approach because they need to win matches. “I think Gustavo’s style is to try and play good football, I think we have two very difficult matches.” 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]2012/2013[/td] [td]Sun 07 Apr[/td] [td]Chelsea[/td] [td]2-1[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td]Sat 08 Dec[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]1-3[/td] [td]Chelsea[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2011/2012[/td] [td]Sat 14 Jan[/td] [td]Chelsea[/td] [td]1-0[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td]Sat 10 Sep[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td]Chelsea[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [/table] What the 'Experts' Say please log in to view this image Lawrenson Sunderland got a good result with their draw at Aston Villa on Saturday, despite two of the Black Cats players, Phil Bardsley and Andrea Dossena, apparently having a bit of a dust-up in the warm-up before the game. I don't have a problem with that kind of thing because at least it shows the players have got a bit of passion about them. And their manager Gus Poyet has got a performance out of his team and a point out of the game too. Looking at the chances they had, they could have won too. Under Gus Poyet, Sunderland have beaten Newcastle, Southampton and Manchester City at the Stadium of Light Sunderland's home record is very, very good under Poyet - they have won all three games under him at the Stadium of Light - and they will be confident of continuing that record against Chelsea. But I cannot see it myself. The Blues are inconsistent at the moment and Jose Mourinho tries to mask some of his team's deficiencies by going off on a tangent in his post-match media conferences, but I still think they will go to the north east and win. Chelsea went to West Ham last week and won comfortably, and I expect them to do the same at the Stadium of Light. Lawro's prediction: 0-2 Merson I still don't think Jose Mourinho knows what his best team is at the moment - but that was a massive football result for Chelsea on Sunday. They'd just been beaten by Basel in the Champions League, where they never had a shot on target, and then went 1-0 down against one of the best defences in the league, so to come back and win 3-1 was very impressive. That is a massive turning point for Chelsea and a great result. Sunderland away is going to be hard, though. One thing I've been impressed with since Gus Poyet came in to the club is Sunderland's shape and the way they've set themselves up. They've been hard to beat. I watched them play with nine men against Hull and Hull never looked like scoring - and that's a Hull side who could have had four or five against Liverpool. I'm going for a Chelsea win but this will be a very tight football match. PAUL PREDICTS: 0-1 What the Phallus says I've always said we can beat anyone at home, really hope we take the game to them and beleive we can beat them because we can. Opta stats Fernando Torres has scored six goals in seven Premier League starts against Sunderland - against no side has he netted more in the competition. Sunderland have conceded more own goals than any other Premier League team this season (3). Against Villa at the weekend, Sunderland became only the second team in Premier League history to name four Italians in the starting line-up (after Chelsea in 2000). Betting please log in to view this image Links http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=232199&part=sports
Pulled the stops out there Bri, well done.. ****e thread like so smug can shut the **** up.. Nice one mate..
Thanks mate. It's updated right up till kick off where I'll post the teams. Quick information for those who don't have the time or the device to go surfing sites.
Sunderland face Chelsea at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday evening and they may have to go into the game without the services of skipper John O'Shea. O'Shea suffered a groin injury in the final ten minutes of the draw at Aston Villa but carried on playing as all subs had been used. That was after getting ready for a quick jig about with the defence to avoid finishing the game with ten men on the field. Gus Poyet explained to the Gazette: "It was a worry at the end. One second they said to me he was out and we were trying to switch things around. undefined"The next second, he managed to stay on the pitch limping, which was great for us. "Credit to him and let`s hope it`s nothing serious." And of course Chelsea are not the sort of side that you want to be facing without your top players, luckily for Poyet, Valentin Roberge proved that he is capable of doing a good job at the back when he came on to replace the sent off Wes Brown at Stoke City last weekend.
----------------mannone---------------- Bardsley-----brown---Roberge---Dossena -----------------Ki----Colback---------------- Larsson-------Giaccherini-----------Johnson -------------------Fletcher--------------------- Summit like this.
Are you ****ing serious? I've seen tramps in shop doorways with better threads We must be the laughing stock of these boards.
My team: When attacking ------------Mannone----------- Celustka-Diakite-Brown-Bardsley ------------Ki--Colback-------- Giacc------------------Johnson ----------Fletch-Jozy--------- When defending ------------Mannone----------- Celustka-Diakite-Brown-Bardsley Giacc--Ki--Colback--Johnson -----------Fletch------------- -----------Jozy--------------- 1-1 (then we beat them 10 days later in the cup)
Sunderland v Chelsea Sunderland got a good result with their draw at Aston Villa on Saturday, despite two of the Black Cats players, Phil Bardsley and Andrea Dossena, apparently having a bit of a dust-up in the warm-up before the game. I don't have a problem with that kind of thing because at least it shows the players have got a bit of passion about them. And their manager Gus Poyet has got a performance out of his team and a point out of the game too. Looking at the chances they had, they could have won too. Under Gus Poyet, Sunderland have beaten Newcastle, Southampton and Manchester City at the Stadium of Light Sunderland's home record is very, very good under Poyet - they have won all three games under him at the Stadium of Light - and they will be confident of continuing that record against Chelsea. But I cannot see it myself. The Blues are inconsistent at the moment and Jose Mourinho tries to mask some of his team's deficiencies by going off on a tangent in his post-match media conferences, but I still think they will go to the north east and win. Chelsea went to West Ham last week and won comfortably, and I expect them to do the same at the Stadium of Light. Lawro's prediction: 0-2 Gaz's prediction: "I would really like to see Sunderland win. I quite like Gus Poyet and the club has had such a tough time in the past year that I feel for the fans too, because they have had a horrible time. Obviously because I am a United fan too, I would like to see Chelsea lose but I cannot see it. I think the Blues will win 2-1."
