Monday Night Football brings us to the Stadium of light, where Sunderland entertain Everton in what should be an entertaining game in the Premier League.
The home team will be keen to maintain the form which saw them beat Chelsea 3-0 last time out, and Everton will be looking to get back to winning ways after a home loss to Arsenal in their previous game.
TEAM NEWS
Sunderland striker Darren Bent is back in training after a hamstring strain and is hoping to feature for the first time since October.
Danny Welbeck (groin) and Anton Ferdinand (hamstring) are also expected to be available, but John Mensah is still out with a shoulder injury.
Everton will again be without Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who serves the second of a three-match ban.
Toffees striker Yakubu will hope to feature on his 28th birthday.
HEAD TO HEAD
• Everton have won 10 and drawn two of the last 12 meetings in all competitions with Sunderland.
• The Toffees enjoyed their joint-biggest Premier League win against any team when they beat Sunderland 7-1 in November 2007.
• Sunderland have only scored one goal in their last five Premier League games against Everton.
Sunderland
• Manchester United are the only team to have won at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League since Boxing Day 2009.
• The Black Cats have kept clean sheets in their last three home matches.
• They have only hit the target with 32% of their attempts at goal, the lowest percentage in the Premier League
• And they have only had four different goalscorers in the Premier League this season, fewer than any other side.
Everton
• Everton have lost only four of their last 24 Premier League matches.
• But they are winless in their last three outings.
• Tim Cahill has scored four goals in his last seven league appearances.
LEADING GOALSCORERS
Sunderland
Bent: 8 goals (6 league); Gyan: 6 goals (5 league)
Tim Cahill
Everton
Cahill: 6 goals (6 league)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Peter Walton
Assistant referees: Scott Ledger & Dean Mohareb
Fourth official: Phil Dowd
MY PREDICTION
Sunderland 2-1 Everton
Last season's corresponding result
Sunderland 1-1 Everton FT
(HT 1-0)
* Bent 17 * Fellaini 85
What the manager's had to say post match - 26th December 2009
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce:
"It's horrific when you concede so late on. We have just gone too deep and it looked as if Everton were going to score.
"You're always disappointed to concede when you get so close to full time.
"I'm disappointed we couldn't keep a clean sheet. There are still improvements to be made, but if someone asked me at the start of the season that we would be 10th at Christmas, then I would have taken that."
Everton boss Dave Moyes:
"I thought near enough from the start we just about completely dominated the game. They scored a very good goal and put us back.
"If we hadn't got anything out of the game it would have been a travesty. I thought the goal was reward for how the players have been playing in the last week or two.
"I think in Marouane Fellaini is probably the best midfielder in the country at the moment. He was exceptional today and his goal was reward for the way he played today."
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