Tag: Jermain Defoe

Premier League Season Review – Sunderland

Stephen Donovan

Sunderland: 17th FA Cup: Round Three Capital One Cup: Round Three It has become an annual occurence for Sunderland to look like relegation certainties, change the manager and kickstart a revival by defeating arch rivals Newcastle United in the new man’s second match in charge. It is a case now of lightning striking four times, and on this occasion it was the wily Sam Allardyce who defied the club’s league position when he took over in October to lead them to safety, while reminding everyone of his managerial ability. After guiding the team…

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Sunderland vs Chelsea – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

The first of two crucial make-or-break home games for relegation threatened Sunderland in the space of five days sees them take on a Chelsea side that will look to affect matters at the bottom after helping to decide the destiny of the title last time out. For most of their game at Stoke City there was little threat posed by Sunderland and they fell behind to a disputed goal shortly after the interval, but a late onslaught was to prove fruitful as Jermain Defoe once again went some way to underlining…

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Sunderland vs Arsenal – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

A big game for two sides at opposite ends of the  table sees Sunderland look to escape the bottom three with victory against Arsenal, who can strengthen their position in the Champions League places by taking the points. There is still plenty of work to do, but it all came together for the Black Cats on an excellent afternoon at fellow strugglers Norwich City, possessing the greater degree of cutting edge and proving solid at the back to keep a welcome clean sheet. It was a huge boost for the…

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Sunderland vs Crystal Palace – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

Sunderland will be determined to claim three points which could take them out of the bottom three as they entertain a woefully out-of-form Crystal Palace at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening. Despite the distance between the sides in the league standings, there was little to separate Sunderland from West Ham United on Saturday, but a failure to convert one of several second half chances proved their undoing and they came away with a defeat that keeps them second from bottom, albeit with a superior goal difference to the teams around…

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Sunderland vs Man Utd – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

Manchester United will be intent on setting about closing the increasing gap that exists between themselves and the Champions League places when they travel to a Sunderland side that needs points in their battle for survival. Although they are still very much playing catch-up, Sam Allardyce’s men are sure to have been encouraged by their most recent displays, where they were unfortunate not to hold title-chasing Manchester City and then came from two goals behind to earn a terrific draw away to Liverpool, so there is plenty to build on. With…

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Three Premier League strikers among the best of their class in 2016

Vincent Van Genechten
rooney man utd

Since the year 2015 has been behind us for more than a month, let’s look at the players who’ve scored most since the new year began. Leading the way in 2016 are two players from Portuguese Liga NOS. Both Benfica’s Jonas and Sporting’s Islam Slimani have registered eight goals in six league appearances since January 1. Three players have hit the net seven times. First up is Primera Division’s Eibar forward Borja Bostan, scoring one goal every 53 minutes. Real Madrid’s star Karim Benzema sits at one goal every 55 minutes. And…

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Steven Fletcher joins Marseille in loan deal

David Nugent

In a surprise move, Scotland international striker Steven Fletcher has joined French Ligue One side Marseille on-loan until the end of the campaign, according to Sky Sports. The former-Hibernian star had fallen out-of-favour with Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce and has not appeared for the north east club in the last five matches. The 28-year-old has scored just four goals this season and England international Jermain Defoe has forced him out of the starting line-up in the past few weeks. Fletcher’s contract with Sunderland expires in the summer and he…

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Tottenham vs Sunderland – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

Sunderland will be looking to continue their excellent start to 2016 when they face a Tottenham side which is hoping to recover from only their third league defeat of the campaign. More than enough chances were created, but Tottenham failed to make them pay and eventually became the latest in a long line of teams to come unstuck at the hands of Leicester City on Wednesday evening. The decisive goal came from a rare piece of poor defending as Robert Huth was given the freedom of their penalty area to…

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Sunderland vs Stoke – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

Sunderland will be looking to achieve back to back wins for the first time this season, but face a tough test as they take on a Stoke City team that has not conceded a goal on the road since September 12. After being ruthlessly exposed in numerous outings this season, the Black Cats delivered a terrific defensive display on Monday to help them earn three massively valuable points away to Crystal Palace. They had to soak up a lot of pressure over the piece, but the back three were always…

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Man Utd vs Sunderland – Premier League preview and team news

Stephen Donovan

Manchester United will be intent on picking up their third consecutive Premier League win against a Sunderland side that sits bottom of the table with the future of Head Coach Dick Advocaat in renewed doubt. The Red Devils come in Saturday in second place and just the two points behind their city rivals, and boss Louis van Gaal is making noises that his side can challenge for the title. If they can continue to grind out positive results, that may well be possible, but performances are still unconvincing and the sort of attacking…

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Preview: Sunderland vs Norwich – Strugglers set for early battle at the bottom

Stephen Donovan

Two sides who lost their opening match last weekend vie for their first points of the season at the Stadium of Light, as Sunderland take on Norwich City. A display of how not to defend meant that Sunderland were condemned to defeat inside 25 minutes at Leicester City. It was reminiscent of some of their collapses of the past two seasons, which will concern Dick Advocaat, who has striven to address those deficiencies at the back which have been exposed all too often. It was, however, pleasing for strikers Jermain Defoe…

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