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Stakes are high in the battle at the bottom of the EPL, with 18th up against 19th in what looks one of the most intriguing fixtures of the weekend with Sunderland and Blackburn both needing points. Join us for a live blog from 12.30am AEDT.
One has a new manager on the touchline for the first time, the other has a manager under such pressure that he might be on the touchline for the last time. There will surely be drama.
Sunderland, 18th, hover just above the trap door. They’ve had a season of drama and chaos Steve Bruce must surely feel hard done by, and his team has played much of the season looking as if they had been patched together.
That problem does not evaporate with the arrival of Martin O’Neill. He can however address the apparent dearth of spirit and belief which showed against Wolves last week.
He’ll need to, because the home crowd are starting to get nervous about the ‘R’ word. Their last win was over Bolton, and it was back in October.
Blackburn Rovers’ drought went back that far, until Yakubu personally hauled them past Swansea last week.
He scored all of Rovers’ goals in 4-2 win, which must have lifted them from the emotional doldrums if not the relegation zone. Yakubu’s big day out must also have bought Steve Kean some time, but probably not much.
One can only sit between places 18 and 20 for so long before the chop comes, especially when you consider that Sam Allardyce was sacked for the apparently cardinal sin of having the team just outside the top half.
While Blackburn Rovers lifted a bit of the pressure, a loss here would undo all their good work.
These teams last met back on New Years Day, and what a difference a year makes. On that day Sunderland won 3-0, with Asamoah Gyan, Darren Bent and Danny Welbeck scoring the goals.
Sunderland, without none of those three still at the club, need all of Martin O’Neill’s motivational skills, while Blackburn Rovers need to harness the good feeling of last week’s win, and get some momentum up the table.
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