The battle to avoid the third relegation place will take centre stage at the Stadium of Light as both Sunderland and Leicester City need more points to avoid slipping beneath the dreaded dashed line.
QPR and Burnley are already doomed but the relegation battle is far from over as Sunderland, Leicester, Hull City, Newcastle United and Aston Villa are all fighting to avoid finishing in the bottom-three.
Leicester are three points above 18th-placed Hull City, plus they have a lot going for them. Nigel Pearson’s men are topping the Premier League form table over the last six games having secured five wins from six games.
Pearson consequently clinched the manager of the month award for April and they are playing with a lot of enthusiasm and team spirit. Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips, who now works as a coach for the Foxes, has revealed that his side now approach every game with genuine belief that they can win.
The hosts may not be as thrilling as Leicester but Dick Advocaat’s men are crucially finding ways to get points from games since they were thumped 1-4 at home by Crystal Palace.
The Black Cats nicked a draw at Stoke before edging past Southampton a fortnight ago. Their most impressive result was at Goodison Park last weekend when the Dutch manager admitted before the game that he was willing to take a point against Roberto Martinez’s men.
Sunderland instead ended up with all three thanks to a successful smash-and-grab performance. The Black Cats sit two points above the bottom-three plus they have one more game remaining than their rivals, albeit away at Arsenal.
Sunderland team news
- John O’Shea is a doubt with a rib injury, as is midfielder Jack Rodwell (hamstring).
- Ricky Alvarez (knee) and Emanuele Giaccherini (ankle) are likely to miss out through injury.
Leicester City team news
- Pearson’s men are without Matty James (knee), who was injured in the 2-0 win over Southampton last time out.
- David Nugent (calf) must wait on a scan while Andy King (hamstring) is a doubt.
- Zoumana Bakayogo (knee) continues to miss out.
Sunderland vs Leicester City prediction
Advocaat is unlikely to make changes to the side that won at Everton so Sunderland’s player of the year Sebastian Larsson should continue as an advanced central midfielder alongside Jordi Gomez. Lee Cattermole should protect the back-four as the holding midfielder.
Up top, Danny Graham will probably be the battering ram working through the middle to provide a target for long balls while Jermain Defoe and Connor Wickham drift inside from the flanks as wide forwards in a 4-3-3 formation.
James and King’s absence could compel Pearson to start with Danny Drinkwater and Esteban Cambiasso as the central midfielders. Riyad Mahrez could continue operating in the number ten 10 in a 3-4-1-2 formation.
Jeffrey Schlupp and Marc Albrighton will probably be the wing-backs, while Jamie Vardy supports Leonardo Ulloa as the centre forwards.
Leicester are clearly the form side and they will attempt to impose themselves from the off with a high-tempo start in the opening quarter-of-an-hour. Schlupp has to exploit Defoe’s weakness in tracking back by providing quality crosses whenever he gets into good crossing positions.
Score prediction
Sunderland 1-2 Leicester City
