Key events
Unai Emery says West Ham are solid and compact with good players and a plan; they’re very strong in transition. Villa need to defend, control the game with their positioning and try and progress the ball.
Nuno says he thinks long and hard about whether to play Callum Wilson as well Jarrod Bowen – today he doesn’t – and considers the opponent and gameplan.
Thomas Frank says it’s been good to have a few days off between games, and his team are ready to go. He thinks his team now has a more discernible structure and identity – overall he liked the last three performances.
He’s so busy, it’s hard to enjoy the job, but in the relentlessness it’s a privilege to have his job. The team are more solid defensively and are now looking to improve in attack. He’s expecting a transitional game, Forest sitting back and waiting for a counter, and rest defence and counter-pressing will be important.
Spurs need to close down Forest’s midfield two, while Kudus and Xavi Simons are starting to play well.
Teams!
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinaldo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee, Traore, Talbi, Brobbey. Subs: Patterson, Geertruida, Hume, Isidor, Mayenda, Rigg, Adingra, Mundle, Neil.
Newcastle: Ramsdale, Livramento, Thiaw, Burn, Hall, Guimaraes, Tonali, Miley, Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon. Subs: Ruddy, Schar, Joelinton, Wissa, Barnes, J Murphy, A Murphy, Willock, Ramsey.
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Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Richards, Lacroix, Guéhi, Mitchell, Wharton, Kamada, Pino, Sarr, Mateta. Subs: Benítez, Devenny, Nketiah, Uche, Hughes, Esse, Clyne, Cannoyt, Sosa, Devenny.
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo, Reijnders, Foden, Cherki, Haaland. Subs: Trafford, Ake, Marmoush, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis.
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West Ham United: Areola, Mavropanos, Magassa, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Potts, Diouf, Paqueta, Bowen, Summerville. Subs: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Igor, Scarles, Rodríguez, Kante, Soucek, Wilson.
Aston Villa: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Onana, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins. Subs: Wright, Digne, Garcia, Bogarde, Lawrence, Buendia, Sancho, Guessand, Malen.
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Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Savona, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus. Subs: Gunn, Morato, Luiz, Ndoye, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko, Abbott.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Bentancur, Gray, Kudus, Simons, Kolo Muani, Richarlison. Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Palhinha, Tel, Bergvall, Johnson, Odobert, Sarr, Davies.
Le Bris is proud, as Sunderland are back in the Premier League and excited to play this game – he wants composure and intensity.
Today, he goes with a back four, not the five he’s been using recently, but says the team are now able to flick between formations during games. Otherwise, he wants them to press high, and that’s our lot.
Here’s Eddie Howe! He says that his team have played lots of big matches over the last few years but this one is a bit different. He wants his players to be level.
Sunderland are a flexible team, so he’ll know more about the tactical specifics once he sees the XI Regis le Bris suggests, but Newcastle are in good form at the moment and he was happy with their midweek draw in Leverkusen.
Finally, he notes that it’s a big game for Lewis Miley, who’s a local lad, and after coming off the bench in Germany to score a fine goal, he deserves his start.
Preamble
There are certain feelings that are inspired and incited by nothing in the world other than football. A smell, a sound, a word can be all it needs to take us to that place, where everyday mundanity is transformed into hyperreal madness of sensory and emotional overload, the basic fact of our existence suddenly an entirely different proposition.
Sunderland v Newcastle is all that and then some, a festival of hatred and intensity that we’ve not seen in league form since 2016. Everything the game has to offer is there in this fixture and, with both sides in decent shape, this particular iteration is going to be wild.
On its own, it’s more than enough, but we’ve plenty more to enjoy too: Crystal Palace host title-chasing Manchester City in a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final, while Spurs travel to Nottingham Forest and West Ham entertain Aston Villa. It’s going to be some afternoon.
Kick-offs: 2pm local, 2pm GMT.
#Sunderland #Newcastle #Crystal #Palace #Manchester #City #Premier #League #live #Football
