Sunderland will host Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light in a game that's crucial to Aston Villa's top six ambitions. Last season, Villans won at Wearside, scoring two to Sunderland's none, while drawing their home match against the Black Cats, 1-1.
Sunderland have drawn five matches in a row, with the goalless match against Blackburn on Monday being the latest. On the positive side, the Black Cats have staved off defeat for six matches in a row, their best performance since doing it for 17 successive games in 2006-07.
But the draws against Manchester United and Blackburn must surely rankle as Sunderland should have won those games, and that could have taken the squad well up the table. That said, Sunderland have acquitted themselves well against strong opposition in the form of Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Their only loss came in an away match against West Brom. Converting draws into wins must be manager Steve Bruce's top priority.
Contrastingly, Villa have played in only two goalless draws in their last 20 matches, including the one against Chelsea in match-week eight, the Midlands outfit are formidable rivals having finished sixth in three consecutive seasons.
Particularly after the arrival of Gerard Houllier as manager, Villa have turned things around, as they began the season badly under MacDonald who took temporary charge after O'Neill's shock departure before the season started. Under Houllier, Villa have lost just the solitary match in four, winning two and drawing one.
Ahead of the Villa game, Sunderland have injury worries in the form of Kieran Richards, sidelined with a hamstring problem, David Meyler with a knee injury, and Fraizer Campbell who has sustained an injury to his cruciate ligaments.
Gabriel Agbonlahor with a groin problem, Emile Heskey with a back injury, Luke Young with a hamstring injury and Richard Dunne with an ankle problem are likely to miss the Saturday game for Villa.
If Sunderland hope to get a win against the Villans at Wearside, they must surely look to Frenchman Steed Malbranque to strike form against Houllier's men. Malbranque has consistently been making it to the first eleven, and his best is yet to come.
Sunderland's probable starting eleven on the day should have: Mignolet, Bardsley, Bramble, Turner, Onuoha, Henderson, Elmohamady, Henderson, Wellbeck, Malbranque, Cattermole
Aston Villa are likely to include the following players in their starting eleven: Friedel, Warnock, Clarke, Collins, Beye, A Young, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Downing, Ireland, Carew
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