West Ham United vs Sunderland - Match Preview

Date: Saturday 14th December Venue: Upton Park Kick-Off: 15:00 Sunderland look to win on the road this season at the eighth time of asking as they travel to East London to face fellow strugglers West Ham. Only a win will be good enough for the Black Cats if they want to avoid being the team sat bottom of the Premier League on Christmas Day, a position that has inevitably ended in relegation all but once in 21 seasons. The Hammers could slip into the bottom three should they come away with anything other than 3 points, proving this is a must win game for both sides going into the busy Christmas period. Team News Sam Allardyce faces a selection headache for Saturday's clash. He will be without former Sunderland loanee Stewart Downing following his ankle injury picked up away at another one of his former clubs Liverpool. Andy Carroll (foot), Ricardo Vaz Te (shoulder), Winston Reid (ankle) and Mladen Petric (calf) are still injured and will not feature. James Tomkins, James Collins, Ravel Morrison and Guy Demel will be assessed nearer to kick off, while Kevin Nolan begins a three game suspension. Sunderland are still without goalkeeper Kieren Westwood and defender Carlos Cuellar through injury. Lee Cattermole made his comeback in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday and will be looking for a starting place in the middle of the park, but faces competition from Ki Sung-Yeung, Sebastian Larsson, Jack Colback and Craig Gardner. Key Stats € Sunderland are unbeaten in the last four between the two sides, winning three and drawing one, but have only won once in their last eight at Upton Park. € West Ham have kept seven clean sheets this season, only Everton have done better (8). € Sunderland have scored five own goals this season, but have only scored two away goals. € West Ham have won only once in their last eight, while Sunderland have won twice in as many games. € Sam Allardyce has only won three times against Sunderland as a manager. € Gus Poyet was unbeaten in seven against West Ham as a player. Likely Line-Ups West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, McCartney, Collins, O'Brien, J Cole, Diame, Noble, Jarvis, Maiga, C Cole. Sunderland: Mannone, Bardsley, O'Shea, Brown, Celustka, Ki, Colback, Johnson, Giaccherini, Altidore, Borini. Prediction 2-2 source - bbc football
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Contributor

Joseph is a sports journalist, who has previously worked for Sky Sports News, Soccer Saturday, UEFA's coverage of the Champions League and Europa League and The London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as football clubs such as FC Halifax Town, Corby Town and Crystal Palace FC.