Sunderland vs. Swansea
Venue: Stadium of Light
Kick off: 3pm
Sunderland and Swansea City will meet at the Stadium of Light on Saturday (today) after experiencing contrasting starts to the Premier League season.
The Black Cats have been beaten twice and have already conceded seven goals, while the Swans have impressed with their displays against Chelsea and Newcastle United.
It has been a miserable start to the season for Sunderland, who have lost both of their opening Premier League matches and currently sit bottom of the table.
The Black Cats began their campaign by suffering a 4-2 defeat against Leicester City, and it got even worse a week later, as they were booed off pitch by their own fans in a 3-1 loss to Norwich City.
Following their latest defeat, manager Dick Advocaat called a meeting with his players to discuss their problems and try to find a solution.
The Dutchman may also be questioning his decision to stay at the club, after initially leaving at the end of the last campaign once he had guided them to safety.
They only managed to finish three points above the drop last time around and an improvement on their four home wins this season is vital.
In stark contrast to the poor form of Sunderland, their opponents this weekend have enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign.
Swansea were handed a tough assignment in their opening league fixture against Chelsea, but they twice came from behind to claim a well-earned 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Due to the controversial events that happened in that match, including the red card that was shown to Thibaut Courtois and the fallout between Jose Mourinho and his medical staff, the performance from the Swans was largely overshadowed.
They followed up that win by easing to a 2-0 victory over Newcastle last Saturday, with Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew both finding the net for the second game running.
The two forwards look to have struck up a great understanding, and Gomis in particular has shone since Wilfried Bony left for Manchester City in January, scoring seven goals in his last eight appearances for the club.
An improvement upon the eighth-place finish that they managed last term seems to be a realistic aim and Garry Monk will be hopeful of continuing the good work he has done at the club.
Sunderland possible starting lineup: Pantilimon, Jones, O’Shea, Kaboul, Aanholt, Larsson, Cattermole, M’Vila, Lens, Fletcher, Defoe.
Swansea possible starting lineup:
Fabianski, Naughton, Williams, Fernandez, Taylor, Shelvey, Cork, Montero, Sigurdsson, Ayew, Gomis.