West Brom will be looking to jump on the uncertainty still surrounding Sunderland and Sunderland will be looking to take advantage of a new start under Allardyce.
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“We did enough to win that game”, added Jones. Both teams are in desperate need of a win which will make this a tight affair.
West Brom have doubts over several players, with James Morrison, Salomon Rondon, Saido Berahino and Jonathan Evans all in line to be assessed before kick-off.
Younes Kaboul and Yann M’Vila are likely to be fit while Ola Toivonen will be an absentee after picking up an injury earlier in the week. “The challenge is a big one but I’m a big man and I like a challenge”.
O’Neill’s first match was a 2-1 home win over Blackburn, with a stoppage-time free-kick from Sebastian Larsson ensuring the Northern Irishman began on a positive note.
Even so, there was no excuse for a total capitulation in their last home game against Everton, and they seemed to carry something of a hangover effect into the following weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace.
I see this one ending level. The Baggiesmanaged to hold back the Eagles’ pressure for more than an hour but goals from Yannick Bolasie and a late penalty from Yohan Cabaye to give them their first away defeat of the season.
The 26-year-old from Derry refused to wear a poppy on his kit in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday while playing for Sunderland and Wigan Athletic, saying it would have been disrespectful to the “innocent people who lost their lives in the Troubles”. I talk to the players and when there’s a conflict, it’s solved. The Scottish striker is coming off a hat-trick with his national team and had already scored 25% of his clubs’ league goals this season, despite making only two starts.
The Black Cats are quite familiar with the bottom three spots, spending much of the past three seasons there before barely pulling clear at the end.
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The centre-back has made seven appearances for the club in the Premier League so far this season, often switching between his preferred role in the middle and covering at right-back. These are two of the lowest scoring teams in the Premier League and, with Sam Allardyce now in charge at the Stadium of Light, two of the more defensive managers in the league.
