Sunderland vs. Stoke City
Venue: Stadium of Light
Kick off: 3pm
Sunderland will be looking to secure back-to-back wins in the Premier League to lift themselves out of the relegation zone when they face Stoke City in their Premier League clash on Saturday (today).
Meanwhile, the Potters are eyeing their third victory on the bounce following their triumph over Southampton last week.
The Black Cats earned a vital win in their fight against relegation from the top flight by defeating Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park, thanks to Jermain Defoe’s 80th-minute winner.
The victory was Sunderland’s second of the season and moved them into 18th place in the table, just one point adrift of rivals, Newcastle United, out of the bottom three.
Since Sam Allardyce’s arrival, the club taken six points from possible 15 to improve the team’s chances of avoiding the drop into the Championship, but the 61-year-old has conceded that his side still have plenty of work ahead of them to remain in the division.
Allardyce will be stressing to his players that their record at the Stadium of Light has to improve for them to avoid relegation to the second tier ahead of their clash with the Potters.
The Potters had a slow start to the campaign and were forced to wait until late September to record their first win of the season when they defeated Bournemouth at the Britannia Stadium.
Pressure had been growing on Mark Hughes during the club’s six-game winless run in the top flight, but Stoke have well and truly turned the corner and are now up to mid-table in the Premier League.
Hughes will now have his sights set on breaking into the top half of the division before Christmas to secure a platform for a potential surge into the Europa League spot later in the campaign.
Stoke’s resurgence started with their win over the Cherries, which carried them on a three-match winning run as they also recorded victories over Aston Villa and Swansea City.
A surprise defeat to Watford halted their charge, but the Potters have found their form again to win back-to-back matches with impressive wins over Chelsea and Southampton.
Their defensive resilience has been key to their upturn in form as they failed to keep a clean sheet until October, but since the club have held the opposition in check five times, including their last three matches on the spin.
Only Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham boast a better defensive record than Stoke this season as the Potters have conceded just 12 goals in their 13 matches this term.
Scoring goals has been Hughes’s men’s issue this season as the team have only managed to find the net 11 times, with Mame Biram Diouf and Bojan being their leading marksmen with three goals apiece.
However, only Aston Villa have scored fewer goals in the top flight this term than the Potters.
Stoke have been one of the best teams in the Premier League on the road this season, losing just one of their seven matches.
The club have claimed 12 of their 19 points on their travels, which will give them plenty of confidence heading into the match at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland possible starting lineup: Pantilimon, Coates, O’Shea, Kaboul, Yedlin, Larsson, Cattermole, M’Vila, Van Aanholt, Defoe, Fletcher.
Stoke possible starting lineup: Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Cameron, Pieters, Whelan, Adam, Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Bojan, Walters.