EPL ~ Sunderland vs Tottenham - Aug 11

zocoss SG

Saturday, 11 August

Vs

Sunderland vs Tottenham - Ch 27: - 7:45pm - (Live)

Sunderland : Gordon, Halford, Wallace, Nosworthy, McShane, Richardson, Etuhu, Whitehead, Edwards, Stokes, Chopra, Ward, Anderson, Collins, Miller, Leadbitter, Kay, Yorke, John, Murphy, O'Donovan.

Tottenham : Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Stalteri, Rocha, Gardner, Kaboul, Dawson, Jenas, Zokora, Murphy, Boateng, Ghaly, Malbranque, Taarabt, Tainio, Routledge, Huddlestone, Berbatov, Keane, Defoe, Bent.

REFEREE
Alan Wiley (Burntwood, Staffordshire)

Record signing Craig Gordon is set to make his Sunderland debut after shrugging off a shoulder injury.

Grant Leadbitter (hamstring) is out for up to a month, while Carlos Edwards (groin) and Greg Halford (hamstring) will have late fitness tests.

Tottenham are without new signing Gareth Bale as he is suffering from thigh and knee problems.

Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Young-Pyo Lee and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (all knee) are also out.

David CONNOLLY was Sunderland's top scorer last season with 13 goals. CONNOLLY was one of six signings Roy Keane made within days of taking over at the Stadium of Light. CONNOLLY needs one goal to total 100 in his league career. Dwight YORKE is the most seasoned professional in the Sunderland squad at 35 years of age. Dean WHITEHEAD made most appearances for the Black Cats last season (46); 45 starts, and one as substitute.

Goalkeeper PAUL ROBINSON was one of seven players to have been on the field for every minute of his teams' Premier League campaign last season. Dimitar BERBATOV was Tottenham's leading scorer last season with 23 goals - 12 in the Premiership. Steed MALBRANQUE is one shy of totalling 50 career goals for English clubs. Young goalkeeper Ben ALNWICK was signed for £900,000 from Sunderland on 2 January this year.

zocoss SG

Tottenham test for Keano's Sunderland

Sunderland manager Roy Keane believes the lessons he has learned from some of the greatest managers in British football history will stand him in good stead as he prepares to embark on his debut season in a Premier League dugout.

Keane will lead his team out for Saturday's Stadium of Light clash with Tottenham clearly treasuring the experience gained during his prestigious career under the likes of Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson. Keane said: 'I hope I have learned something from all the managers I have played under, not just at Manchester United but also Brian Clough and those I played under when I was 10 or 11 years of age. 'Hopefully all the experience will help me but only time will tell. Even the top managers make mistakes and I made a few last year. But I'd like to think that I'm a quick learner.'

Keane hopes to have club record signing Craig Gordon in goal for the Black Cats' Premier League return after the Scot sealed his big-money move to Wearside this week. The Sunderland boss has already developed some of the intractable character traits renowned of his mentors. He is adamant that the word 'survival' is one which should be banned from the club's training ground this year. 'What is survival?' added Keane. '15th? 16th? 17th? We did okay last year but we have achieved nothing at this club. We want to build on it now and hopefully be a success for many years to come.

'The Premiership is full of people whom I have the utmost respect for. People who have been successful not just for one season but for years and years. 'The sign of a top player or manager is one who can do it consistently. That is how you gauge if somebody has been a success in life and it is a massive challenge for us all.'

Keane expects Gordon to be fit to make his top-flight debut but he has doubts over full-back Greg Halford, who faces a late test on a hamstring injury, with youngster Michael Kay standing by to replace him. Despite his hectic summer transfer activity which continued yesterday with the signing of Cork City striker Roy O'Donovan, Keane will kick off the new season with an eye on more reinforcements before the transfer window closes.

Keane's interest in Tottenham striker Mido continues and he added: 'I'd like to think we can get two more players in before the transfer window (closes) and we are working hard to get them in.' The Black Cats' dismal start to their previous campaign still weighs heavy on the mind of Keane, who rescued them after four consecutive defeats to ultimately steer them to the Championship title.

Another such dismal start would surely have graver consequences in the more rarefied air of the Premier League, and Keane acknowledges the importance of preventing recent history from repeating itself. 'It is important we remain calm and focused,' added Keane. 'We deserve to be in the Premiership and hopefully we are going to make our mark on it.

'There is definitely a buzz around the place and we're all ready for a game which won't make or break our season, but I think it is very important we made a good start. 'For the last two or three seasons we have had a disappointing start to the season so we want to get off to a good one. We hope the new boys can come in and hit the ground running.'

zocoss SG

Here we go, the first match of this season will start very soon... Yay... Razz

a-Lost-9uY SG

hurray Exclamation

hisoka SG

hows the 9 mil goal keep?

stellazio SG

hopefully clean sheet lohz.

omgukilledkenny SG

Sunderland almost scored. Smile

zocoss SG

43 mins:

Sunderland 0 - 0 Tottenham

Gordon seems to be quite a good keeper...

used SG

sunderland are really wasting their set pieces Evil or Very Mad

omgukilledkenny SG

finally the match looks lively. hopefully it’ll be like this in the 2nd half.

zocoss SG

Half-Time:

Sunderland 0 - 0 Tottenham

Had that Sunderland player not been selfish and pass the ball when their best chance came, they would have been 1 up already... He went for own glory... Rolling Eyes

turbo_drift SG

Hope 2nd half can see either team scores.

CKeer SG

Richardson is still as crappy. Laughing I dont see what Keano see in him. He takes lousy corners and freekicks, cant dribble, cant pass the only asset he has is his pace.

Cheers.
CK

zocoss SG

Oh well, at least its no longer a man u's fans problem... Mr. Green

CKeer SG

I have to agree on this. Laughing

Cheers.
CK

used SG

Laughing
richardson keeps shooting from 30-40 yards. matt taylor wannbe but can never be

stellazio SG

the problem is, man utd make him looked good. Laughing

sunderland should have bojinov for the same price, diff positions but bojinov much better.

lpx88 SG

If both teams play out to a bore draw..

Sunderland will be top of the league for a few moments based on alphabetical order Laughing

Not bad start to the season eh

zocoss SG

Here comes Spurs $16 million $ man... Neutral

Trump_Card SG

Knn ... Place a 15 dollar bet on tottenham and they have yet to score Mad