Sunderland vs Leicester City. Premier League.
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Monday 11 April 2016 08:27, UK
Leicester will look to continue their dramatic surge towards the Premier League title when they visit Sunderland on Super Sunday.
The Foxes could move 10 points ahead of Tottenham, who host Manchester United later in the day, and close to within three wins of lifting the crown.
Claudio Ranieri's side have won their last four games 1-0, and a performance of similar resistance will be required to overcome relegation-threatened Sunderland - who begin the weekend in the bottom three.
The Black Cats kept a rare clean sheet last time out, but couldn't find the net at the other end as they played out a frustrating 0-0 draw against West Brom.
Team news
Jeff Schlupp is back for Leicester after missing their 1-0 win over Southampton with a knee injury.
The wideman suffered the problem on international duty with Ghana but is available for Ranieri.
Matty James (knee) is unlikely to feature as he continues his recovering from his long-term injury with Ranieri expected to name an unchanged team.
Sam Allardyce does not expect to have any fresh injury concerns for Sunderland.
Sebastian Larsson is among those pushing to force his way into a starting berth, while striker Duncan Watmore remains the Black Cats' only long-term absentee with an ankle ligament injury which is set to rule him out for the remainder of the campaign.
Opta stats
Sunderland's 4-2 defeat to Leicester on the opening day of the season was their first loss in eight league games against the Foxes (W4 D3).
Leicester have scored just once in five Premier League visits to Sunderland (D3 L2).
The Black Cats have enjoyed just one win in their last 10 Premier League games (D6 L3).
Leicester have never kept five consecutive clean sheets in the top-flight, last keeping five in 1979/80 in the second tier when they kept six in a row.
Sunderland have now drawn their last four league games in a row; only once before have they registered five consecutive Premier League draws (Sep/Oct 2010).
Ranieri has used the same starting line-up in 11 different top-flight games this season; no other starting line-up (from any side) has appeared more than five times.
Sam Allardyce has averaged just 1.04 points per game with Sunderland this season, his lowest average return from a single Premier League campaign.
Leicester's last four top-flight games have all ended in 1-0 wins; only once before has a team registered five consecutive Premier League 1-0 wins (Everton in November 2002).
Merson's predictions
It could be an advantage for Sunderland to play second after their other relegation rivals. If the results go the way I've predicted, then they have a free swing.
They have to win this game, but I don't think it's a must-win for Leicester. They can draw it, but they have to make sure they don't lose.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)
Betting
Sunderland are 5/2 shots with Sky Bet to halt Leicester's title surge with the Foxes 21/20 and the draw trading at 12/5. Leicester remain odds-on at 2/7 to win the title, while the Black Cats are desperate for the three points in their fight to avoid the drop. The Foxes have scored exactly one goal in five of their last six away league games, keeping a clean sheet in three of those five and are Price Boosted from 5/1 to 7/1 to secure another 1-0 win. Soccer Saturday's Matt Le Tissier agrees and is tipping Riyad Mahrez to the only goal at odds of 22/1. Get the latest odds here.
