Tottenham Hotspur vs Sunderland – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Sreya

Tottenham Hotspur will look to bounce back from their third defeat of the season when they face Sunderland at the White Hart Lane on Saturday, 16th January. A Robert Huth goal kept Spurs on the fourth place in the English Premier League standings with thirty six points.

Sunderland, meanwhile, pulled off a surprise victory over Swansea away from home by a two-goal margin to move up to the eighteenth place in the league table with eighteen points after twenty-one matches. Still a long distance away from ensuring safety, the Black Cats will hope to continue the momentum from midweek.

Team News

Clinton N’Jie continues to remain absent for the hosts while Ryan Mason and Alex Pritchard are doubtful for this weekend. Sebastian Larsson, Adam Matthews and Younes Kaboul have been ruled out for Sunderland with injuries while DeAndre Yedlin cannot play against his parent club.

Tottenham Hotspur Possible Starting Lineup: Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Ben Davies, Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane.

Sunderland Possible Starting Lineup: Vito Mannone, Billy Jones, John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Patrick van Aanholt, Lee Cattermole, Yann M’Vila, Adam Johnson, Jeremain Lens, Fabio Borini, Jermain Defoe.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“We missed a great opportunity to establish us on the top and you feel disappointed but you need to carry on and keep working hard. It’s a very open league. So far anything can happen. All [clubs] in the top 10 have the possibility to win the league. We played well, we deserved more, but in football you need sometimes to have some luck. It wasn’t for us last night.

In the way we played last night it’s nothing to worry [about] for the future. We have a quick game on Saturday. It’s very important. We must react, play well and take the three points, because we need to keep our position in the table.”

– Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham Hotspur.

“I had a difficult time. Last week was my first 90 minutes for three months. I’m happy with that. Hopefully I can continue this, start playing more games, be important for the team and help them win games.”

– Jeremain Lens, Sunderland.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, the previous six encounters between these two sides have resulted in four wins for Tottenham and only one loss. In spite of their loss on Wednesday, the London club are firm favorites for this fixture and are expected to win by a scoreline of 3-1.