Perennial strugglers Sunderland play host to perennial mid tablers West Brom this weekend in a match which most see as a must win. Second home game within a week and playing against a side showing a little unrest from some supporters. Tony Pulis will undoubtedly have his team well drilled. Almost always aggressive a Pulis side and will look to expose Sunderland's shaky defence. Sunderland will be looking (sick of typing this line now) for their first league win of the season - the plus side is that Saturday's game is in October. West Brom, on the other hand, despite a few rumblings from the fans (well - the ones I know from when I worked down there), currently sit on a relatively comfortable 8 points and will be looking to build on a last gasp equalliser against Stoke. Match Appointments Ref: Stuart Attwell - the one who allowed this goal to stand between Sunderland and Liverpool: Assistants: S Burt, D Bryan Fourth official: M Atkinson Injury News Sunderland Adnan Januzaj picked up ankle ligament damage in last Saturday's defeat to Crystal Palace. The Black Cats are also still without Mannone, Borini and Larsson as well making selection a problem. West Brom There appears to be a clean bill of health for this Saturday's game at the Stadium of Light for the baggies. Saido Berahino and Everton Loanee Brendan Galloway are likely to be fit again for the clash. Corresponding fixture last season: Nowt special eh! 0-0 with our best chances falling to Cattermole and Defoe and their keeper made a couple of decent saves Form: Sunderland L-L-D-L-L-L West Brom W-L-D-L-W-D Key Men Sunderland Jan Kirchhoff has a guile and confidence about him that Sunderland desperately need. Very cool head and very good on the ball - I'm picking him as our key man this week after arguably his worst midfield performance for us last week. West Brom Salomon Rondon is the Baggies top scorer with 3 league goals this campaign. he will be looking to use his strength and height against Sunderland's fragile defence. From the Sunderland camp Jermain Defoe: "It’s important we take something from the game but it’s also important for the lads to forget about last Saturday. “We have to go back to the training pitch, work hard and try to put in the same kind of performance, and hopefully if we get a little bit of luck we will get the points that we need. "We’re improving but when you’re 2-0 up and concede within 30 seconds it isn’t good enough and I think all the players know that. “There were a lot of positives to take from the game – the amount of chances we created and our energy levels, and we put more crosses into the box which is what the manager wanted. “It’s not often you score two goals and come away a little bit down but we just have to keep going.” From the West Brom camp Allan Nyom: "Salomon is important to us because he is a very good striker," "He has scored a lot of goals for this club and he got the equaliser at Stoke. "He has a lot of confidence at the moment so that is good for us." Asked about how he has settled into early life at The Hawthorns, Nyom added: "I talk a lot to everyone in squad. I talk a little bit more with Nacer Chadli, Claudio Yacob and Salomon because I can speak French and Spanish." "The group is very good and I enjoy being here." Selected Match Odds: On paddypower, Sunderland are priced at 7/5 and start the game as favourites West brom are 2/1 with the draw 9/4 Score odds from the same site: Sunderland 1-0 13/2 Sunderland 3-1 20/1 1-1 11/2 West Brom 1-0 8/1 West Brom 2-1 10/1 So this weekend sees us start a game as favourites. Only the second one this season iirc (Boro) and we know how that turned out!!
Sometimes what looks the ****est games on paper turn ouf to be ok. I also noticed in that game that crouch is still very much a handful.
Chadli is dangerous as well imo. Need to keep both quiet which unfortunately with our defence I don't see us doing. Also can't see us scoring against a Pulis-drilled defence, unless Defoe pulls something out of his ass again. 1-0 West Brom for me, but hope I'm wrong obviously.
Me too, its a bit like playing with 10 men imo, but we have been carrying players most games and have not been far away from getting results, this gives you a bit of hope, and maybe this Carry on Sam lark may take the pressure off Moyes a bit you never know.
I always despise watching a Tony Pulis team come to the SOL. They're dirty as ****, niggly as **** and time waste all the ****ing time. It's effective for them, but ****ing awful to watch. I'm going for an exciting 0-0 draw.
not far off, pal. in fact it probably is, which is why i can see us losing a tirgid, dour game of footie. Will Moyes encourage a better performance? Will players play like they know each other/ give a ****? **** knows. My expectations are at a low point. Miserable ****, this morning.
Aye no arguments - but if we win a turgid, dour game of football I'd be delighted - but I know some will still complain as they want us to play like Barcelona and win!
I think we're going to lose to be honest and we might well get turned over. Sorry, nothing positive to say right now.
Here's hoping we win and go into the international bteak on a high - a fair strong ref ( not sure if these visit the SOL !) is a must as it will be a typical Pulis cheating, physical time wasting team conning the ref the whole match. When we are playing against his teams - sky high blood pressure and gruff throat times We need the 3pts or I expect more big changes at the club during the break.