Sunderland vs Tottenham preview
Spurs will hope to finally secure their first victory of the season when they visit the Stadium of Light for a league clash with bottom-placed Sunderland on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s charges are aware that they need to start winning games if they are to improve their fifth-place finish of last season. The north London club had a frustrating August with failed attempts to sign Saido Berahino and Victor Wanyama, plus they dropped nine points in just four league games.
They will feel slightly unlucky in that poor run as Kyle Walker’s own goal condemned them to a defeat at Manchester United when they were the better side. Momentary lapses in defence allowed both Leicester City and Stoke City to come from behind to deny Pochettino’s side wins before an excellent Tim Howard forced Spurs to settle for just a point last time out.
Spurs will hope Harry Kane’s two beautifully taken goals for England during the international break will restore the young forward’s golden touch in front of goal and see him end his club goal drought against the Black Cats.
Sunderland will be desperate to get a win in order to climb off the bottom of the table. Dick Advocaat implored the club’s hierarchy to do some business in order to give his squad a chance in the battle for survival.
The Dutch boss seemed happier after the transfer window shut as the club handed him crowd favourite Fabio Borini, who will add the much needed competition for places and options in forward positions.
Sunderland team news
- On-loan DeAndre Yedlin cannot face his parent club.
- Adam Johnson (shoulder) and Jordi Gomez (fractured knee cap) could miss the encounter as well.
- Adam Matthews is definitely out with an ankle injury.
Tottenham Hotspur team news
- Christian Eriksen is still struggling with a knee injury, while Moussa Dembele could join him on the sidelines because of an ankle problem.
- Summer signing Heung-min Son was granted international clearance so he will be available for selection.
Sunderland vs Tottenham prediction
Advocaat usually opts for a 4-3-3 formation, so Lee Cattermole could sit at the base of midfield to protect the back-four while Yann M’Vila and Jack Rodwell frequently push forward to support attacks centrally.
Johnson’s absence could force Jermain Defoe to face his old club as a left forward. Defoe and Jeremain Lens could be the wide forwards flanking Steven Fletcher.
Pochettino is likely to keep Eric Dier in central midfield, so Ryan Mason could start on the bench with Nabil Bentaleb partnering the versatile defender as the central midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Dembele has had a fairly decent start to the season and should keep his place as a right attacking midfielder, if he is deemed fit to start.
Nacer Chadli and Son may be the other attacking midfielders converging centrally to work just behind Kane. Danny Rose and Kyle Walker will probably be the full-backs, supplying width down the flanks by pushing beyond the halfway line from the back-four.
Tottenham will have more quality in central midfield, so they should enjoy more possession and push play into Sunderland’s half for most of the game. The Black Cats will probably adopt a direct attacking approach with the option of knocking long balls early into the offensive half for the three strikers.
Both sides had slow starts to the season but Spurs should have enough to claim an away victory if they avoid the defensive lapses that cost them recently.
Score prediction
Sunderland 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
