Match Preview: Sunderland v Aston Villa

by Dek Hogan

Who are we playing?
Sunderland on Saturday 2nd January at 3.00pm

Where are we playing?
Stadium of Light,
Sunderland
SR5 1SU

Can I go? Tickets on general sale last time we looked at a bargain £19.

Trains are shite over Christmas

Easy to get to?
Trains tend to be useless around Christmas so your best bet is either the coach or a designated driver.

Can I watch it on telly
You'll need a stream or a pub with a dodgy dish.

Big game?
Huge.

Staying up has long seemed like a pipe dream but if we are going down (we are) we can at least try to avoid the indignity of finishing bottom of the heap.

Even that may prove to be beyond the hapless bunch of misfits currently masquerading as footballers at Aston Villa. The irritating thing is that for an all too brief spell at Newcastle and for prolonged periods of the West Ham game, there were signs that these boys can play.

Rémi Garde

You can use two games in three days as an excuse but was it really necessary to make so many changes after the game against the Hammers at least gave us some momentum?

Carles Gil surely did enough in the last home game to justify a place in the starting line up. Who did we get instead at Norwich? Kieran Fucking Richardson. It just makes no sort of sense.

Ciaran Clark came back and promptly found the woeful form that saw him so derided in the Lambert era, while returning captain Micah Richards looked like he's been taking coaching from the Chuckle Brothers.

It was obvious almost from the get-go at Carrow Road that we were to get no repetition of the heroics of Boxing Day, despite the fact that Norwich looked hesitant and nervous early doors. That the Canaries grew in confidence as the game went on was testament to just how poor we were and indeed are.

Has there been a worse Villa side than this? Certainly not for decades.

Big Sam

The opposition aren't exactly having a great time of it either, despite parachuting in Big Sam in a last gasp attempt to hang on to Premier League status after years of escaping by the skin of their teeth.

You have to go back to October to find the Black Cats last win but then you have to go back to August for ours and we all know that if a team needs to end a bad run, they can do it against the Villa.

Do Sunderland boast any famous fans?
Well, there's Kevin Macguire from the Daily Mirror and Lauren Laverne off the the (DAB) radio.

We've got David Bradley off of films and the telly.

So we win.

Clogger

Who's playing for us?
Sanchez's hamstring continues to keep him out. Okore may be fit if he can force his way back into the team. If we go for it, we can win this game. However if he's true to form, Garde will continue to select cloggers ahead of players with a bit of skill and imagination.

The biggest miss will be Jordan Ayew who is suspended. Also banned is Ashley Westwood so Garde may have little option but to go more positive in midfield. We can only live in hope.

Who's playing for them?
Allardyce has problems at the back with Sebastian Coates a doubt after hobbling off against Liverpool.

With Younes Kaboul's hamstring ruling him out,  Big Sam will crossing his fingers that captain John O'Shea can return, but midfielder Jack Rodwell (hamstring) is set to miss to miss out.


Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• We have 81 wins over the Black Cats while they have 54 victories. There have been 46 draws

• Sunderland haven't beaten us at the Stadium of Light since October 2010. Even on that occasion, they relied on an own goal from Richard Dunne to nab all three points.

• Villa have won on the last three trips to Sunderland, putting four past Sunderland last season, two each for Big Chris Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor.

Prediction
A 2-0 victory to Sunderland