Black Cats Take On Birmingham City

Sunderland take on Championship side Birmingham City at St Andrews in tonights Capital One Cup 2nd round tie.

The Black Cats will be looking forward to the game after holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw last time out, although the side will have a few changes to it.

Birmingham have been looking a bit better of late after escaping the drop last season, manager Lee Clark has been rebuilding and now reckons he has a side that will be challenging at the top of the league this season.

But this is the cup, and anything can happen as we well know from last season.

Vital Quotes:

Gus Poyet:

“It is going to be very difficult and very demanding. We need to make sure we understand the phases of play – we need to cope with their game, their strengths and how they play, and then put our style into play as much as possible to control the game.

“There are going to be a few changes because we need to make sure that we use the players wisely, we are playing Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday and it is a very short period of time with the possibility of playing extra time.”

Birmingham Team News:

Colin Doyle will be in goal and Lee Clark will be without Matt Green, Gavin Gunning (both knee) and Andrew Shinnie (back).

Player to watch: Clayton Donaldson

Blues picked the 30 year old up from Brentford for free, hes been knocking the goals in at Griffin Park and Clark hopes he will carry on now with Birmingham. Already has one goal in the competition in the first round v Cambridge.

Sunderland Team News:

Manager Gus Poyet is likely to make a host of changes for the clash, with goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, defender Billy Jones and Jordi Gomez in contention.

Player to watch: Depends who plays

Big things are expected from Billy Jones.

Match Facts & Stats

16 April 2011 – Birmingham City 2-0 Sunderland
14 August 2010 – Sunderland 2-2 Birmingham City
20 March 2010 – Sunderland 3-1 Birmingham City
24 October 2009 – Birmingham City 2-1 Sunderland
22 September 2009 – Sunderland 2-0 Birmingham City
29 January 2008 – Sunderland 2-0 Birmingham City

Ref Watch:

Darren Bond will take charge of tonight’s cup tie. Bond will be assisted by Amy Fearn and Peter Gooch.

Match Prediction:

1-2 to Sunderland

Tonights other games

Aston Villa v Leyton Orient
Bradford City v Leeds United
Burton Albion v QPR
Stoke City v Portsmouth

Vital Birmingham City