Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
New signing Dame N’Doye could make his Sunderland debut, with Steven Fletcher struggling because of illness.
Defender DeAndre Yedlin is available again after being ineligible to face parent club Tottenham last weekend.
Bournemouth’s record signing Benik Afobe will undergo a fitness test after limping off in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Norwich.
Matt Ritchie and Josh King are also doubts, with hip and hamstring problems respectively.
Editor’s Note: Sunderland seem to perform it fits and starts a brace of wins here and there but ultimately they seem to sandwich a run of defeats. They did win two games on the spin over relegation rivals Aston Villa and Swansea but last week saw them lose to Tottenham, they will hope that defeat is the exception to this run rather than the norm as they play host to Bournemouth.
Sunderland managed to go in front last Saturday against Spurs but their hard work was undone just a minute later when Christian Eriksen levelled, it seemed they and Sam Allardyce is particularly were masters of their own downfall as their decision to go to 3 at the back spectacularly backfired.
New signing Jan Kirchoff wouldn’t have enamored himself to The Black Cats faithful as his debut was less than spectacular once coming on in that tactical change. Allardyce will have to decide whether to go back to the flat back 4 which started last week or persist with the 3.
They play host to a Bournemouth side who managed to get a first win in 5 league matches last weekend with a win over fellow strugglers Norwich. It was a comfortable win in the end for Eddie Howe’s men as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium.
Benik Afobe got his first goal for the club and Manager Eddie Howe will be hoping he can shake off an injury doubt and add to his burgeoning goal tally this Afternoon. If he isn’t passed fit then Howe will also be able to call on his other new Forward signing Lewis Grabban,
Sunderland now find themselves 4 points from safety while a win for Bournemouth could give them a bit more daylight between them and the drop zone. Sam Allardyce will have to make sure his side don’t fall too far away from the safety and leave them with too much work to do as the games start to run out.
I think much will depend on Jermain Defoe for Sunderland, a former Bournemouth loanee he could be the difference this Afternoon. I think both sides will end up cancelling out and I reckon there will be a share of the points, a draw for me.
