Source: SKY_Sports
Sunderland v Tottenham live!
13 Lennon dances past Reid with ease and bends in a cross. Keane is there but he fails to generate enough power on the header and it is easy pickings for Fulop. Spurs now on the front foot. Excellent game, so far.
11 Jenas is not pleased as he plays a decent through ball into the box but Corluka rather gives it up and the move comes to nothing. Lennon then fizzes in a vicious cross but Bent can only glance wide. Better from Spurs
9 Spurs enjoy some possession but it comes to nothing. Sunderland turn on the style again with some neat passing and a cheeky step-over. They look full of confidence.
6 The home side are well in control. The support, too, is excellent. Spurs are pegged right back in their own half, with Sunderland applying plenty of pressure. Meanwhile, Chimbonda escapes giving away a free-kick in a dangerous area, as the ref deems he got the ball.
Excellent goal from the former Manchester United player. Richardson seizes on a loose and bouncing ball to speed past his opposing defender before sliding past the exposed Gomes with his right foot. Game on.
3 GOAL - Richardson scores for Sunderland!
3 A really bright start to the game. The tempo is decent, with both sides looking up for it. Sunderland begin with some decent possession, while former Black Cat Chimbonda is soon booed as he takes a touch for Spurs.
1 Tottenham get the game under way. Kicking from left to right, as I see it.
'The Apprentice music' rings around the stadium as fans find their seats. Not long now ladies and gents. Five minutes to be precise.
Ian Marshall is backing the Black Cats to record a 3-1 victory, highlighting the threat of Cisse and Jones, but Christopher Nelson is hopeful Spurs will claim a vital away win.
A word on today's odds from our compadres at skybet.com. You can get 7/4 on a home win, 12/5 on a draw and 6/4 for an away triumph. Looking at other markets, Jones is sixes to net the first goal of the encounter.
Craig, from Church Stretton, is in confident move and predicts that Spurs will make it three league wins on the bounce via a 2-1 success. Dan Rodgers, though, says Jones will prove the difference and bag a brace, much to Harry Redknapp's misfortune.
Some info on today's teams: Harry Redknapp hands full-back Pascal Chimbonda a swift return to Sunderland. The Frenchman, who left the Stadium of Light after just six months in January, is included in one of four changes to the side which trounced Middlesbrough 4-0 in midweek.
He, Vedran Corluka, Ledley King and former Black Cats target Darren Bent all start at the expense of Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Michael Dawson, Didier Zokora and Roman Pavlyuchenko. There are changes too for the home side as the injured Anton Ferdinand and Grant Leadbitter make way for Phil Bardsley and Djibril Cisse.
So then, what of this afternoon's clash? This is a vital game for both clubs. It presents one of the duo a chance to move away from the relegation zone, with both team currently four points above the dreaded drop places.
The referee for today's game is Phil Dowd.
Tottenham team: Gomes, Corluka, Woodgate, King, Chimbonda, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Modric, Bent, Keane. Subs: Cudicini, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Dawson, O'Hara.
Sunderland team: Fulop, Bardsley, Ben-Haim, Collins, McCartney, Malbranque, Whitehead, Richardson, Reid, Jones, Cisse. Subs: Gordon, Edwards, Murphy, Leadbitter, Davenport, Healy, McShane.
