Sunderland Vs Tottenham: Official Sunderland Not606 Match Thread please log in to view this image Stadium Of Light please log in to view this image Sunderland welcome Tottenham to the Stadium of Light looking to climb off the bottom of the Premier League table. Sunderland will be encouraged by their display in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea after running Jose Mourinho's men all the way at the Stadium of Light. The defeat to Chelsea was Gus Poyet's first at home after helping mastermind wins over Newcastle and Manchester City since replacing Paolo Di Canio. Sunderland have conceded 14 goals at home, the worst in the Premier League, and Poyet will know he will have to shore up his backline if they are to climb clear of trouble. Tottenham on the other hand have scored only six goals away from home this term, but still have one of the league's strongest away records having picked up 13 points on their travels. The midweek victory over Fulham eased the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas and got their top-four challenge back on track. Tottenham are just three points off fourth spot and they boast a good record against Sunderland having won four and lost none of the last six Premier League meetings. Sunderland Team News Jozy Altidore is expected to keep his place in the starting line-up after impressing in midweek against Chelsea. It means Steven Fletcher is likely to have to content himself with a place on the bench again, while Adam Johnson will be pushing for a recall after appearing as a substitute against Chelsea. Gus Poyet has no fresh injury concerns from the game, but he will still be without injured goalkeeper Keiren Westwood (shoulder) and defender Carlos Cuellar (hip). Tottenham Team News Jan Vertonghen "rolled" his ankle in Wednesday's 2-1 victory at Fulham and manager Andre Villas-Boas has admitted the defender is a doubt for Saturday's match at Sunderland. Mousa Dembele's ongoing hip complaint ruled him out of the Fulham clash at the last minute, but after resting he could come back into contention. Full-back Danny Rose has made a tentative return to training, but is not yet ready for a playing comeback, while Christian Eriksen remains sidelined. Poyet We need to recover well. I think we started very, very well and credit to the players who took their chance and jumped into the team. If we can do something similar without conceding too many that would be fantastic because we need the three points. Villas-Boas At the moment it's going well for us, I think we managed to get two good wins and a good draw against Man United. So to complete the bounce-back, if we can say that, it would be great to win at Sunderland. To do that after a midweek Premier League fixture and after a good draw against Man United, that would show we really are alive. They're not afraid to play big teams. Gus Poyet is a manager who likes his teams to play football, so hopefully it'll be an entertaining game. One To Watch please log in to view this image Jozy Altidore please log in to view this image Big Jozy will be up for Saturday and should be more than fresh to play two in four days after not being used much recently. He gave the two Chelsea backs a torrid time on Wednesday and will be hungry for more after netting his first of the league campaign. 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 19 May[/td] [td]Tottenham[/td] [td]1-0[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td]Sat 29 Dec[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td]Tottenham[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2011/2012[/td] [td]Sat 07 Apr[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]0-0[/td] [td]Tottenham[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td]Sun 18 Dec[/td] [td]Tottenham[/td] [td]1-0[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Premier League[/td] [/tr] [/table] What the 'Experts' Say please log in to view this image Lawrenson Sunderland have a real go at teams at the Stadium of Light - they did it again in their defeat against Chelsea - and it is clear they will be relying on their home form if they are going to have a chance of staying up. It is a big ask for them to get anything out of this game, though. Far too much was made out of Tottenham's 6-0 defeat at Manchester City and there is clearly nothing wrong with the team spirit under Andre Villas-Boas. They have bounced back well from that with a good point against Manchester United and an excellent win over Fulham, and I can see them picking up another win here. Lawro's prediction: 1-2 Merson This will be a hard trip for Tottenham on Saturday night. Sunderland scored three goals against Chelsea in midweek and still lost the game, but Gus Poyet will be telling his players that if they keep scoring goals at home every week they'll soon start winning more than they lose. I thought Tottenham were lucky to come away with a win against Fulham, but they deserve credit for the way they responded to losing 6-0 to Man City. They drew with Man United and won in midweek, so you can't ask for more than that. Andre Villas-Boas has to decide whether to stick with Jermain Defoe up front (I can't see him playing both him and Roberto Soldado) and I think he should. There's no point bringing Defoe in for one game and then dropping him; he needs six or seven games on the trot to get on a run. Villas-Boas will say they need to win this game because things are so tight at the top of the Premier League, but I've been impressed with Sunderland under Poyet and I think this will be a draw. What the Phallus says We do look handy at home, Spurs won't be as confident of a walk over after the game we gave Chelsea and 2-0 To the lads- finishing them off on the break in the last 5 minutes. Opta stats [table="width: 500, class: outer_border, align: center"] [tr] [td] There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Sunderland's last 6 home games in the Premier League. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] There have been over 2.5 goals scored in Tottenham's last 3 games in the Premier League. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Steven Fletcher has scored in three of his last five Premier League games against Spurs. [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Sunderland have hit the fewest shots on target this season (33) while Spurs have the lowest shot conversion rate (7%). [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Sunderland boss Gustavo Poyet made 82 Premier League appearances for Tottenham Hotspur as a player and also served as Assistant Coach under Juande Ramos for the Lilywhites. [/td] [/tr] [/table] Betting please log in to view this image Links http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=232209&part=sports
TOTTENHAM’S weekend trip to Sunderland will come too soon for ex-Black Cats loanee Danny Rose to return to the Stadium of Light. Spurs defender Rose, who enjoyed a hugely successful loan spell on Wearside last season, was due to resume first-team action at the start of December after suffering a foot injury in September’s Europa League clash with Tromso. But the 23-year-old sustained a thigh problem on the comeback trail which has kept him on the sidelines. Rose, named Sunderland’s Young Player of the Season last year, is due to return to training this week, but will not be back in time to feature in Saturday’s clash.
Wonder if these are "niggly" injuries and just enough to keep him out until January when he will sign for us?
It would still be nice to see Danny Rose at the stadium, preferably with a red and white scarf on..Let's hope for a game that is just as entertaining as the Chelsea game, only this time with 3 points at the end of it..
Well - due to the inexplicably stupid kick off time I can't go to this one Absolutely gutted - will be watching on the box (well - iPad on SkyGo) so will still be there in spirit (am giggin in Acklam on the night and they won't let me in to set up on the afternoon so I can go to the match then go straight to the pub). Thanks Sky TV for this!! We need to play with the heart shown the other night and our defence needs to be tight on the oppo. They are definitely beatable. Also -= re what Poyet said about Colback - if he won't sign a new contract before the end of January - he plays in the reserves for me. No point making a player asking to leave a focal point of the team and Cattermole can do the job just as well.
3-1 Sunderland, Chelsea were fantastic against us and no other team will play like that and Fletcher is due a goal. Looking forward to the next 12 home games !.
Come on Gus pick the right team this time, Mannone, Celustka, O'Shea, Brown, Dossena, Ki, Cattermole, Colback, Borini, Giaccherini, Altidore.
Fletcher is **** pal. he is unfit & looks like he can't be arse. the bench is were he belongs end of.
I certainly don't think that Fletcher is ****, but I don't think he is fully match fit yet and needs to be brought back gradually..
Christ, just imagine ho good we'd be with a proper left back like Danny playing for us.....fookin awesome, that's what.
