Sunderland host Aston Villa in the first league game of 2016 as the bottom two sides of the premier league look to get the new year off with a bang. Sam Allardyce’s men had a torrid end to 2015, losing their last five games leaving them seven points adrift. Aston Villa are the only team performing worse than the Black Cats this season, finding themselves rock bottom of the league with just eight points from their opening 19 games.
Kickoff – Saturday 2nd January 2016 @ 1500
Venue – The Stadium of Light
Last Season – Sunderland 0-4 Aston Villa
Referee – Craig Pawson
Potential Sunderland Squad – Pantilimon, Mannone, Jones, Brown, Liang, O’Shea, Yedlin, Van Aanholt, Cattermole, Lens, Gomez, Gooch, Toivonen, M’Vila, Johnson, Borini, Graham, Watmore, Fletcher, Defoe.
Injuries: Larsson (Hamstring), Matthews (Ankle), Kaboul (Hamstring), Rodwell (Knock), Coates (Doubt).
Potential Aston Villa Squad: Bunn, Guzan, Lescott, Okore, Gil, Ilori, Hutton, Richardson, Gueye, N’Zogbia, Veretout, Clark, Richards, Bacuna, Crespo, Grealish, Sinclair, Gestede, N’Zogbia, Traoré, Kozak.
Injuries: Agbonlahor (Back), Sánchez (Hamstring), Amavi (Knee), Gardner (Ankle), Ayew (Suspended), Westwood (Suspended).
Read Sunderland’s Prediction:
Sunderland have to win this game with games coming thick and fast at this time of the year. The pressure will be on Sam Allardyce’s men but I expect the Black Cats to claim a vital three points with a confident performance. This game has the same feel to the Cardiff City clash during ‘The Great Escape’, a similar performance wouldn’t be so bad!
Sunderland 3-0 Aston Villa
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