Sunderland v Leicester City - Sky Sports 1 - 1:30pm

Paully D

An interesting one at both ends of the table to kick off Super Sunday today.

A win for Leicester would put them 10 points clear at the top of the table ahead of Spurs' clash with Manchester United this evening. Meanwhile, a win for Sunderland would take them just 1 point away from safety with a game in hand and a better goal difference over Norwich ahead of their game at Carrow Road next Saturday.

Sam Allardyce has a good job at Sunderland since he has taken over, taking them from a mess of a team winning 0.33 points per game to just over 1 point per game (which would be good enough for 14th this season over 38 games), and his January signings have had a big impact, especially Jan Kirchhoff has been absolutely superb. They are quietly on a decent run - losing only 1 of their last 7 games - but they need to quickly turn draws into wins before it's too late. I would imagine that they will lineup unchanged from last week, though Larsson might sneak in:

Mannone
Yedlin Kone Kaboul van Aanholt
Kirchhoff
Khazri Cattermole M'Vila Borini
Defoe

Leicester will line up as they always do:

Schmeichel
Simpson Huth Morgan Fuchs
Mahrez Drinkwater Kante Albrighton
Okazaki Vardy

Very interestingly, Leicester are actually odds-against to win this game (best priced 6/5) which I'm sure will appeal to many. Strangely, I have a feeling Sunderland will get something from the game which is a feeling I get approximately once every 8 years. :pac:

0-0 or 1-1.

Was looking at the "a win would take Sunderland 1 point from safety" for a while and wondered had I fallen asleep for a few weeks.

Paully D

Sunderland: Mannone, Yedlin, van Aanholt, Kaboul, Kone, Kirchhoff, M’Vila, Cattermole (c), Khazri, Borini, Defoe,

Subs: Jones, Larsson, Rodwell, N’Doye, Pickford, O’Shea, Lens

Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Albrighton, Drinkwater, Kanté, Mahrez; Okazaki, Vardy

Subs: Schwarzer, King Amartey, Gray, Ulloa, Dyer, Chilwell

Bret Hart

2-1 Sunderland.

highgiant1985

Bret Hart wrote: »

2-1 Sunderland.

I hope not!

Paully D

Fantastic atmosphere from the home fans once again. Imagine what it would be like if Sunderland actually did something other than constantly struggle.....

highgiant1985

Paully D wrote: »

Fantastic atmosphere from the home fans once again. Imagine what it would be like if Sunderland actually did something other than constantly struggle.....

the fans would likely be stunned in to silence from the shock of it all :pac:

Paully D

Sunderland's full backs are killing them. The same story every single week.

keeponhurling

Free header from 6 yards out.
For me he's gotta score that , Bill.

Rayne Wooney

Good game so far

highgiant1985

keeponhurling wrote: »

Free header from 6 yards out.
For me he's gotta score that , Bill.

was the best chance of the game so far any way.

Paully D

That pass from Kirchhoff. :eek:

highgiant1985

great work from Drinkwater there.

MisterAnarchy

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Good game so far

Really?
Its terrible football, very scrappy, both teams giving the ball away cheaply.

LuckyGent88

That could have been easily a penalty there against yedlin

Paully D

I think that should have been a penalty for Leicester. Once again, a Sunderland full back. :rolleyes:

upandcumming

Did Yedlin think he was the only player on the pitch?!

dirkmeister

That's a penalty.

LuckyLloyd

Vardy playing very poorly. He's the one Leicester player for me who is showing signs of the situation.

Paully D

Vardy is so unlikeable.

SantryRed

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Vardy playing very poorly. He's the one Leicester player for me who is showing signs of the situation.

Mahrez has been pretty off the boil for weeks at this stage.

dirkmeister

Why is Vardy having a go at Kante there?
It was his sh1t touch that put the ball out of play.

SantryRed

dirkmeister wrote: »

Why is Vardy having a go at Kante there?
It was his sh1t touch that put the ball out of play.

It was a poor ball to be fair. Vardy was in a cul de sac and had to try something to get by the two players.

upandcumming

Mahrez not at it at all!

highgiant1985

Leicester started the game really well but Sunderland are on top at the moment.

LuckyLloyd

Paully D wrote: »

Vardy is so unlikeable.

SantryRed wrote: »

Mahrez has been pretty off the boil for weeks at this stage.

Actually yeah - both displaying weakness in this first half. Kante, Okazaki, Drinkwater and the back four holding it down.

davycc

come on sunderland you can do it ! defoe says he wants to help spurs out too by beating leiscter city today.
hope he fills his boots , once a yiddo ,always a yiddo!

Paully D

It's such a shame that Sunderland basically gave everyone else a 7 to 8 game head start before Allardyce took over. I watch this team for large periods lately and wonder how on earth we're in trouble.

If Allardyce had this squad from game 1 of this season, Sunderland would be easily safe and sound.

MonkieSocks

Sunderland playing well, it's set up for another 1-0 for Leicester.

RugbyLover123

Paully D wrote: »

It's such a shame that Sunderland basically gave everyone else a 7 to 8 game head start before Allardyce took over. I watch this team for large periods lately and wonder how on earth we're in trouble.

If Allardyce had this squad from game 1 of this season, Sunderland would be easily safe and sound.

If Sunderland stay up, Allardyce will make them a solid mid table team. Won't have to worry about relegation again once he's in charge.

Paully D

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

If Sunderland stay up, Allardyce will make them a solid mid table team. Won't have to worry about relegation again once he's in charge.

Yeah, I completely agree. It's just unfortunate that after so long we finally have the manager that can do it, but it does seem an very uphill task to stay up now.

I do hope he will stay if we go down. He has 1 year left on his deal so even if it was to give it a shot for a year. Sunderland's players wages all drop by 50% if we go down (per The Telegraph) so that might be the difference between keeping one or two of the players that can really be the difference in a quick promotion or not.

MonkieSocks

Vardy :eek:


The keeper narrowed the angle badly there

highgiant1985

boom 1-0! Vardy!

Bret Hart

Yes get in. 1-0. Vardy.

davycc

vardy nooooooooo

Paully D

Paully D wrote: »

It's such a shame that Sunderland basically gave everyone else a 7 to 8 game head start before Allardyce took over. I watch this team for large periods lately and wonder how on earth we're in trouble.

If Allardyce had this squad from game 1 of this season, Sunderland would be easily safe and sound.

And then something like that Leicester goal happens, and it all becomes clear. :pac:

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Vardy playing very poorly. He's the one Leicester player for me who is showing signs of the situation.

Pretty damn cool for the goal though. As much as Leicester have recently looked a bit, not desperate, but reaching, they're still getting it done.

Paully D

Oh **** off Rodwell.

Guy:Incognito

Lovely composed run and finish but shockingly lazy defending. Kabul doesnt start sprinting till Vardy was 5 yards clear of him. What was he waiting for?

J. Marston

"We're gonna win the league and now you're gonna believe us..."

Worked out well for the last crowd who sang that....

LuckyLloyd

Deleted User wrote: »

Pretty damn cool for the goal though. As much as Leicester have recently looked a bit, not desperate, but reaching, they're still getting it done.

Well yeah...first goal in six games. He took the chance well. Leicester as a whole are grinding this ****ing thing out - it's extremely impressive.

Hammer Archer

J. Marston wrote: »

"We're gonna win the league and now you're gonna believe us..."

Worked out well for the last crowd who sang that....

Chelsea???

mightyreds

J. Marston wrote: »

"We're gonna win the league and now you're gonna believe us..."

Worked out well for the last crowd who sang that....

Chelsea? Yes it did true enough

LuckyLloyd

lol Borini, so bad

Bret Hart

Lol Borini.

LuckyLloyd

J. Marston wrote: »

"We're gonna win the league and now you're gonna believe us..."

Worked out well for the last crowd who sang that....

Your petty hate sustains so many of us

Paully D

And Borini there just completely sums up Sunderland over the last 4 seasons. You've got to laugh.

OwaynOTT

Race for the title on sky sports, showing Aresnal.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Well yeah...first goal in six games. He took the chance well. Leicester as a whole are grinding this ****ing thing out - it's extremely impressive.

Aye he's faded a bit but the whole team deserve some serious credit. Few of them have been in a similar situation before but they've done brilliantly the last few months.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Your petty hate sustains so many of us

Whatever keeps yous going. :P

davycc

Kaboul fuuks spurs up even when he stopped playing for us! lazy fook

Paully D

How many times are the officials going to stand there and let Drinkwater scream abuse in their face?