SUNDERLAND V STOKE
Follow all the action as Sunderland host Stoke in the Barclays Premier League
Sunderland V Stoke - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.
TEAM LINE UPS
Sunderland: Mannone, Bardsley, O'Shea, Brown, Alonso, Larsson, Colback, Ki, Johnson, Altidore, Borini. Subs: Ustari, Vergini, Gardner, Fletcher, Celustka, Giaccherini, Wickham.
Stoke: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Nzonzi, Whelan, Odemwingie, Adam, Assaidi, Crouch. Subs: Muniesa, Palacios, Arnautovic, Walters, Guidetti, Sorensen, Ireland.
MATCH PREVIEW
Stoke City travel to Sunderland tonight hoping to pick up only their second win of the season on the road, knowing that their opponents could climb out of the bottom three with a win.
Stoke City have been on something of a losing streak as of late, following their 2-1 win over Championship side Leicester in the FA Cup earlier this month The Potters have lost to both Liverpool and Crystal Palace as well as bowing out of the FA Cup on Sunday at the hands of Chelsea.
Whereas Sunderland have shown signs of improvement, with six goals and four points from their last two Premier League games against Fulham and Southampton as well as securing their place at Wembley after their win over Manchester United last week and getting past Kidderminster in the FA Cup.
Team News
Stoke City could hand Peter Odemwingie a debut tonight after making his switch from Cardiff official yesterday, with Captain Ryan Shawcross set to take part despite fracturing his wrist earlier in the week and Erik Pieters should be available after retiring early from Sunday's FA Cup clash with Chelsea.
Robert Huth(knee), Matthew Etherington(Calf) and Andy Wilkinson(Heel) all remain side-lined.
Gus Poyet made 10 changes to the side that faced Kidderminster on Saturday and is likely to recall all of his big names for the Premier League clash that could drag the Black Cats out of the bottom three.
Defender Carlos Cuéllar has returned to training after hip injury whilst Andrea Dossena has shaken off an Achilles problem and goalkeeper Keiren Westwood continues his recovery from shoulder surgery.
Stats
Sunderland have conceded five own goals this season, more than any other side in the Premier League.
Stoke haven't won a game on the road since their 1-0 win over West Ham in August.
Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 11 home matches against Stoke, winning six and drawing five.
This fixture ended 1-1 last season - Stoke's goal was their first in the top flight at the Sunderland since October 1983.
Prediction
Stoke City set up differently on the road and could go with an offensive line-up tonight with John Guidetti and Odemwingie available, but Sunderland have been on a good run as of late and it's hard to see Stoke improving their away record at The Stadium of Light.
Sunderland 1-1 Stoke City
Source: DSG
