Stoke City Vs Sunderland Preview

Stoke Look to Make it Two Wins in a row at the Britannia Stadium

Oct 28, 2008

Relegation battlers Stoke City will be looking for a second successive home win at the Britannia Stadium against Sunderland to boost their survival hopes.

Stoke fans were named the loudest fans in the Premier League last week and their team will need every decibel to push their side to a much needed three points after winning only one of their last six games.

Sunderland, buoyed by their first win at home over arch rivals Newcastle in 28 years, will be looking to make it six points out of six against the Potters to move them further up the table.

Stoke Look to Overcome Fourth Defeat in Six Games

The Potters, who go into the game on the back of a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, are now odds on favourites for the drop and will be looking over their shoulders at a rejuvenated Tottenham side under Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp's first game at the helm of Spurs resulted in a 2-0 victory over Bolton, closing the gap to Stoke to just two points.

Sunderland to Build on Win over Rivals Newcastle

Sunderland's win over Newcastle at the weekend moved them up to ninth and a further success at the Britannia will provide a nice mid-table buffer before heading to Chelsea on Saturday.

The Black Cats will be determined not to sour their excellent result against the Magpies by slipping up at Stoke.

Star performer on Sunday, Djibril Cisse said to the Sunderland Echo: "We know that winning the derby is huge for our fans, but it will not feel so good if we do not perform at Stoke."

Stoke City team news:

Stoke have yet to keep a clean sheet at home in the Premier league this season and look set to still be without commanding centre-back Ibrahim Sonko with Ryan Shawcross set to continue in his place.

Ricardo Fuller and Mamady Sidibe look set to continue their partnership upfront ousting summer signing Dave Kitson to the bench once more.

The former Reading man is still searching for his first goal for Stoke and return some of the club record £5 million pound spent on him.

Tom Soares looks set to continue in midfield hoping to produce a similar performance as he did in his full debut against Tottenham.

Sunderland team News:

The Black Cats have one of the worst away records in the Premier League having won only five of their last 59 Premier League games away from home, and scored only eight in their last 13.

Kenwyne Jones will remain on the bench with manager Roy Keane determined not to rush the commanding target mans recovery, but will almost certainly play some sort of part in the game.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon is rated as a 50-50 chance to start the game after twisting his ankle in training last Wednesday.

Marton Fulop, who deputised for Gordon in the win over Newcastle, will continue in goal if the Scottish international is not passed fit.

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