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      MATCH PREVIEW

SUNDERLAND v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 24th November 2012, 12:45pm
Stadium of Light

MATCH NOTES

Albion have won more points (18) against Sunderland than any other club in Premier League competition.

If Albion return from Wearside with three points it would be the first time they have won four matches on the spin in the English top-flight since October 1980 when they beat Southampton, Crystal Palace, Coventry City and Manchester City.

Baggies’ striker Peter Odemwingie has netted four goals in four games against Sunderland.

Six of the last seven league meetings between the sides have produced a minimum of three goals.

Jonas Olsson will make his 150th first team appearance for the Baggies if selected to play.

An Albion win over Sunderland would see Albion record their best start to a top-flight season, with 13 games played, since the start of the 1953/54 season.

Sunderland have scored fewer home goals (three) than any other Premier League team so far this season.

If midfielder Chris Brunt plays a part in the game he will set a new record of most Premier League appearances made by an Albion player. The record is currently 106, jointly held by Brunt and former captain Jonathan Greening.

The Baggies are unbeaten in their last five Premier League meetings with Sunderland, winning four and drawing one.

Albion's last six games: W W W L L W

Sunderland's last six games: W L L L D D

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Baggies’ boss Steve Clarke will welcome back defender Gareth McAuley and on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku for the trip to Wearside. McAuley has recovered from a hamstring injury suffered on international duty with Northern Ireland while Lukaku was ineligible to face his parent club in Albion's 2-1 win last weekend.

Influential midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu is ruled out with a hamstring injury sustained against Chelsea and goalkeeper Ben Foster is absent for a third successive game with a groin problem.

Squad from: Myhill, Daniels, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Tamas, Jara Reyes, Popov, Ridgewell, Yacob, Brunt, Dorrans, Morrison, El Ghanassy, Gera, Fortune, Odemwingie, Lukaku, Long, Rosenberg.

Sunderland

Martin O'Neill will be hoping to have a fully fit squad to choose from with former Villa man Craig Gardner returning from suspension, however O'Neill did admit that "one or two" players are injury doubts but declined to name them.

Squad from: Mignolet, Westwood, Bardsley, O'Shea, Kilgallon, Cuellar, Bramble, Rose, Cattermole, Gardner, Colback, McClean, Larsson, Sessegnon, Saha, Fletcher, Campbell, Wickham, McFadden.

QUOTES

Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:

"It's a big club, there is big expectation in the North East, they spent a lot of money in the summer, over £20million.

"It has taken a bit of time to gel. They've also had an imbalance of games with only four at home and seven away.

"I'm sure their points return is not what they would like it to be. Some of their performances have been okay. I've watched the DVDs. They are a good team and will go into the game on a high after a fantastic result at Fulham."

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Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole:

“We’ve just gone about our business, kept working, we don’t need to come out and say that we’ve had so many away games - we’ve got four out of the next five at home so it’s turning in our favour a little bit now.

“We’ve just got to go and perform now. There’s a great crowd here and we’ll just keep working each game at a time; we know there are no easy games. West Brom are going to come here full of confidence having just beaten Chelsea - it’s not going to be an easy game.

“They’re a physical team, powerful up front, they’ve definitely got goals in their side so we need to be on our guard.

“We just have to be patient, there’s no rush, we don’t have to win it in the first five minutes. We’ll just take our time in the game and if we can get a win here it’ll set us off again.”

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MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 15/8, Sunderland Win: 7/5, Draw: 23/10.

First Goalscorer

Fletcher 9/2, Saha 6/1, Long 6/1, Lukaku 6/1, Dong Won Ji 7/1, Sessegnon 7/1, Wickham 7/1, Odemwingie 7/1, McFadden 8/1, Campbell 10/1, Johnson 10/1, McClean 10/1, Fortune 10/1, Morrison 10/1, Rosenberg 10/1, Larsson 12/1, Brunt 12/1, Gera 12/1, Dorrans 14/1, El Ghanassy 14/1, Gardner 18/1, Mulumbu 18/1.

REFEREE

Mike Dean (Wirral) - Last took charge of an Albion game in August for the Baggies' 1-1 draw with Spurs at White Hart Lane. He refereed three Albion games last season, all at The Hawthorns - The 1-0 defeat to Stoke City in August, the 2-1 defeat against Wigan in December and the 2-1 defeat against Norwich City in January.

TICKET INFORMATION

Seats will be available to Albion fans at the Stadium of Light on the day of the game via cash-only turnstile 73 - but only to adults. Albion supporters wishing to purchase concessionary tickets on the day of the game should visit the Black Cats’ ticket office.

The Baggies have been allocated 2,000 seats, priced £29 adults, £19 over 65s, and £10 under 16s.

WEATHER FORECAST

Partly cloudy with a 10% chance of rain, 5°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Albion first met  Sunderland in May 1890 in a friendly game on Wearside which the Baggies won 5-3.

The first competitive meeting of the two sides came four months later at Stoney Lane. Sunderland, in their first season of Football League competition, travelled back up to the North East with two points following a 4-0 victory. Scottish international Jimmy Millar scored two of the visitors goals.

The Baggies wouldn't record a league victory over Sunderland until the 13th meeting between the sides, Jack Cameron scoring the only goal of the game at Stoney Lane in November 1896.

Albion's best league victory over the Black Cats is a 6-4 win at The Hawthorns in February 1937. The Baggies have also registered a 6-5 win at The Hawthorns in March 1934, a 5-1 win in December 1932, again in West Bromwich and another 5-1 victory, this time at Roker Park on New Year's Day 1966.

Sunderland's best victory over Albion came at Newcastle Road in October 1892 when Johnny Campbell hit a hat-trick in an 8-1 stroll for the defending league champions. Sunderland would go on to retain the title at the end of the season.

Other big wins for Sunderland include 7-1 on Wearside in January 1896 and three 6-1 victories, the first on Wearside in September 1935, the second one at The Hawthorns in October 1937, and finally again at Roker Park in February 1977.

Albion have a good record against Sunderland in the Premier League, losing just two of the ten meetings between the two sides. The Baggies are also unbeaten in the last five games, winning four and drawing one. They have also lost just one of the five Premier League meetings between the clubs at the Stadium of Light.

LAST LEAGUE MEETING AT THE STADIUM OF LIGHT

Sunderland 2-2 Albion
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 1 October 2011, 3:00pm

Sunderland: Mignolet, O'Shea, Brown, Turner, Richardson, Elmohamady (Ji 82), Gardner (Meyler 90), Cattermole (Colback 70), Larsson, Sessegnon, Bendtner. Subs not used: Westwood, McClean, Cook, Laing.

Goalscorers: Bendtner 24, Elmohamady 26.

Booked: Cattermole 36 (foul).

Albion: Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu (Scharner 74), Dorrans (Thomas 88), Morrison, Odemwingie, Long. Subs not used: Fulop, Tchoyi, Jones, Tamas, Cox.

Goalscorers: Morrison 4, Long 5.

Attendance: 34,815

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)

Ahmed Elmohamady's first goal for Sunderland spared manager Steve Bruce a mauling as the Black Cats pulled off a timely rescue job at the end of a difficult week. The 50-year-old was firmly in the firing line after his side conceded twice within a catastrophic opening five minutes as James Morrison and then Shane Long got West Brom off to a dream start. But as a chorus of "Bruce out" rang around the Stadium of Light, his players responded to drag themselves back from the brink of disaster. Nicklas Bendtner gave them hope with a 24th-minute strike, his first for the club, and Elmohamady followed suit within two minutes in a chaotic first half. A rejuvenated Sunderland enjoyed the better of the game from that point on, but were unable to make the pressure tell and had to make do with a point on a day when three were perhaps what was required.

Both sides have now won just one of their seven Barclays Premier League games to date this season, and while there was a certain degree of relief among the home sections of a crowd of 34,815, there was a realisation too that things must improve markedly if they are to achieve their ambitions. Bruce went into the game having endured the kind of week which is the stuff of nightmares for a football manager. A poor display at Norwich on Monday night ended in a 2-1 defeat which piled the pressure back on the former Manchester United defender, and the fall-out from defender Titus Bramble's arrest over allegations of sexual assault and possession of a class A drug barely 24 hours later did little to ease his pain. By 3.05pm, he could have been forgiven for started to contemplate the fate his most vociferous critics have been demanding for several weeks.

A must-win game in the eyes of many could hardly have started in any more depressing fashion for Bruce when Morrison, one of the smallest men on the pitch, was allow to meet Chris Brunt's fourth-minute free-kick unchallenged to head home from close range. However, it was to get much, much worse for Sunderland within seconds. Craig Gardner's efforts to spark his side into life backfired spectacularly when he launched himself into a midfield challenge with Youssouf Mulumbu and saw the ball ricochet into the path of striker Long. The Republic of Ireland international took full advantage of a flat-footed home defence to slide the ball past Simon Mignolet to send a chorus of boos echoing around the Stadium of Light. But as the dark clouds gathered on Wearside, Bruce's players belatedly summoned up the will to fight their way out of the mire. As Gardner and skipper Lee Cattermole finally managed to make an impression in the middle of the field, the lively Stephane Sessegnon was able to make his presence felt and start to link with lone striker Bendtner. They grabbed themselves a lifeline with 24 minutes gone when Sebastian Larsson back-heeled Sessegnon's pass into Bendtner's path and the Dane fired past keeper Ben Foster with the help of a deflection off Gareth McAuley. The on-loan Arsenal striker turned provider two minutes later when he crossed for Elmohamady to head home an equaliser which blew the game wide-open once again. Having dragged themselves back into the contest, Sunderland had the impetus and went close to taking the lead in injury time when Foster had to beat away Gardner's shot on the turn.

But they continued to look fragile at the back with Wes Brown and Michael Turner struggling to keep Long and Peter Odemwingie at bay, and with Morrison and Brunt probing from midfield, the danger was far from over. That said, the Black Cats should really have been in front within three minutes of the restart when Larsson floated a free-kick over Jonas Olsson's head to find Brown at the far post. The former Manchester United defender seemed surprised to see Larsson's cross reach him and having reacted late, headed it down into the turf and harmlessly over the bar. Elmohamady too might have done better with 59 minutes gone with Sessegnon once again the architect. The Benin international cut inside from the left and rolled the ball into the Egyptian's path into the box, but Foster's positioning was perfect to make a vital block. West Brom were retreating ever deeper into their own half as Sunderland assumed control with Sessegnon terrorising the visitors' back four, although at times over-elaborating. But with the home side running out of steam, it was the visitors who finished the stronger, although without ever really threatening to snatch victory.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

In his playing career, Sunderland's first team coach Steve Walford spent a short spell on loan at The Hawthorns during the 1988/89 season.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Sam Allardyce, Mark Angel, Brett Angell, Peter Barnes, Jack Boyd, Darren Carter, Frank Cresswell, Shaun Cunnington, Danny Dichio, Andy Dibble, Tony Ford, Carsten Fredgaard, Marton Fulop, Sid Glidden, Don Goodman, Bernt Haas, Danny Hegan, Jim Holton, Kevin Kilbane, Archie McKenzie, Sandy McNab, Paul McShane, Andy Marriott, Jimmy Millar, Joe Murphy, John Nevin, Jimmy Nicholl, Kevin Phillips, Kieran Richardson, Barry Siddall, Colin Suggett, Stanislav Varga, Ike Webb and Colin West.

Denis Smith managed both Albion and Sunderland; Malcolm Crosby was Smith's assistant at both clubs and also had a spell as the Black Cats' boss; Former Albion assistant manager Frank Burrows had a spell coaching at Sunderland; Former Baggies' boss Brian Little had trials as a player at Sunderland.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS SUNDERLAND

 VENUE P W D  L F A
 Home 73 37 18 18 138 101
 Away 73 13 22 38 76 154
 Total 146 50 40 56 214 255

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST SUNDERLAND

 DATE

LEVEL

H/A F-A SCORERS  GATE
 Sat 25 Feb 2012 Premier League H 4-0 Odemwingie 2, Morrison, Andrews  25,311
 Sat 01 Oct 2011 Premier League A 2-2 Morrison, Long - Bendtner, Elmohamady  34,815
 Sat 09 Apr 2011 Premier League A 3-2 Odemwingie, Mulumbu, Scharner - Shorey (og), Bardsley  41,586
 Sat 21 Aug 2010 Premier League H 1-0 Odemwingie  23,624
 Sat 25 Apr 2009 Premier League H 3-0 Olsson, Brunt, Menseguez  26,256
 Sat 13 Dec 2008 Premier League A 0-4 Jones 2, Reid, Cisse (pen)  36,280
 Sat 03 Mar 2007 Championship H 1-2 Carter - Yorke, John  23,252
 Mon 28 Aug 2006 Championship A 0-2 Whitehead, N Collins  24,242
 Sat 21 Jan 2006 Premier League H 0-1 Watson (og)  26,464
 Sat 17 Sep 2005 Premier League A 1-1 Gera - Breen  31,657
 
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