Sunderland vs. Chelsea
Venue: Stadium of Light
Kick off: 3pm
With their Premier League status hanging by a thread, nothing but a victory will do for Sunderland when they play host to Chelsea at the Stadium of Light on Saturday (today).
While there is plenty left to play for as far as the hosting Black Cats are concerned, visiting Chelsea will be keen for the season to finish so that they can begin a new era under the stewardship of Antonio Conte.
Over the last few years, Sunderland have flirted dangerously with relegation, only to ultimately save themselves – sometimes when it seemed that all hope had been lost.
With that in mind, the fact that they find themselves in the relegation zone with three matches left to play should not lead to anybody writing them off.
After all, they have a game in hand on rivals Newcastle United and were they to take nine points from the games that remain, they will begin 2016-17 as a Premier League club once again.
It begs the question – where would they be without Jermain Defoe?
The experienced frontman has found the net 14 times in the Premier League this season, which is his second highest return in a single campaign.
Had Chelsea shown the same guts, determination and fight throughout the whole season as they did against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night, they almost certainly would have made a better fist of their title defence.
Such spirit has been in short supply, which is why Chelsea are set to produce the poorest defence of a title in Premier League history.
Of their last nine matches on the road, Guus Hiddink’s side have tasted defeat only once, winning six times during that run. On top of that, they have conceded only four goals throughout that sequence.
Sunderland possible starting lineup: Mannone, Yedlin, Kone, Kaboul, Van Aanholt, Kirchhoff, Cattermole, M’Vila, Borini, Khazri, Defoe.
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Mikel, Fabregas, Willian, Hazard, Pedro, Costa.
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