Sunderland go into this game still looking for their first Premiership win of the season, and things are about to get physical.
Tony Pulis is renowned for building sides that are hard to beat, when he was at Stoke he arguably had one of the best defences in the top flight, they didn’t play pretty football but they were a tight knit bunch of players who would give most sides a game they knew they had been in.
At West Brom, Pulis still has his knockers who wish that the football was a little easier on the eye, but they will come to the Stadium of Light confident that they will take a point back to the midlands at the very least. Sunderland have got to be alert at the Baggies set pieces.
David Moyes on the other hand is still trying to assemble some sort of order to his quickly put together squad, a win would ease the pressure having thrown the last game away to Crystal Palace, he must make sure there is no repeat of that.
Vital Quotes:
David Moyes: “You always try to do the basics well, but we`ve not done it in all the games.
“I`m disappointed with the mistakes we`ve made. We`ve not kept a clean sheet, and that`s somewhere we have to start from.
“We definitely have to get stronger, be more resolute defensively.
“We`ve worked on it this week, and hopefully we will try and improve on where we let ourselves down last weekend.”
Tony Pulis: “I`ve got a lot of respect for David, (Moyes) he`s joined a club that has to fight, scrap and work hard to get the points needed to retain their Premier League status.
“This will be a new experience for him, but he`s a top man and a top football manager and I`m sure he will get through it.”
Sunderland Team News:
Lee Cattermole , Steven Pienaar Adnan Januzaj, and Victor Anichebe have all joined the injury list recently.
Cattermole misses the game with a sciatic nerve problem, he has been receiving injections for this.
Pienaar came off in the game against Palace, it has now been confirmed that the player is suffering with a hamstring problem.
Anichebe is suffering with a groin injury, and winger Adnan Januzaj was ruled out for at least six weeks due to ankle ligament damage suffered against Palace.
Wahbi Khazri will play.
Player to watch: Jermaine Defoe
Sunderland rely heavily on his goals and luckily he still has the knack.
West Brom Team News:
West Bromwich Albion are close to full strength for this game. Chris Brunt is the only absentee.
Saido Berahino and Brendan Galloway are available after missing the draw at Stoke with a virus.
Player to watch: Jose Salomon Rondon
Scored in his last two outings against West Ham and Stoke, now on three so far for the season.
Match Facts & Stats
There have been under 2.5 goals scored in West Brom’s last 6 away games.
There have been over 2.5 goals scored in Sunderland’s last 5 home games.
Sunderland have kept a clean sheet in their last 3 home matches against West Brom in all competitions.
West Brom have kept a clean sheet in their last 3 matches against Sunderland in all competitions.
Sunderland have lost 5 of their last 6 matches.
West Brom are undefeated in 12 of their last 13 matches against Sunderland in all competitions.
Sunderland have seen under 2.5 goals in their last 3 home matches against West Brom in all competitions.
Sunderland have conceded at least 2 goals in their last 3 home matches.
Ref Watch:
Stuart Atwell is Saturday’s referee.
Assisting Atwell on Saturday will be S Burt and D Bryan.
Fourth official will be Martin Atkinson.
Match Prediction:
I see the outcome of this game being a 1-1 draw.
Notice to Fans
