Sunderland match preview

West Ham United v Sunderland
Boleyn Ground
Saturday 10 April 2010
3pm
Referee: Mike Jones

WHUTV - LIVE AUDIO COMMENTARY

West Ham United welcome Sunderland knowing a win would be a major shot in the arm for their survival fight on a day when the only other fixture sees the two other teams directly below them - Hull City and Burnley - meet.

A win would lift the Hammers above Wigan Athletic on goal difference, at least until the Latics welcome last-placed Portsmouth on Wednesday.

The Hammers' last home win came against Hull City on Saturday 20 February, when they were 3-0 winners.

Gianfranco Zola will be without Scott Parker after the Hammer of the Year - and the SBOBET Player of the Month for March - was cautioned at Everton last weekend, when the club earned a 2-2 draw to arrest a run of six straight defeats.

Sunderland, with 38 points after a 3-1 home defeat of high-flying Tottenham Hotspur, have a strong chance of a top-ten finish and will be eager to break the 40-point barrier as soon as possible.

The Black Cats have won just once away from home in the league this season, a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers on the 15 August opening day when the Hammers themselves won their only road game this campaign - a 2-0 triumph at Wolves.

Darren Bent scored on opening day and has since registered 22 goals overall in the Barclays Premier League - only Wayne Rooney (26) and Didier Drogba (25) have scored more this campaign. Bent could still afford to miss two penalties last week against Tottenham.

• This will be the 70th league meeting between the two sides. West Ham have won 25, Sunderland have won 26 and there have been 18 draws.

• The teams last met at the Boleyn Ground on 4 April in 2009 when goals from Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins helped West Ham United to 2-0 home win. It was both players' first goals for the Hammers' first team. The sides that day were:

West Ham United: Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Stanislas (Lopez 89, Spector (Collins 72), Noble, Boa Morte, Di MIchele (Dyer 81), Tristan
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Payne, Savio, Sears
Goals: Stanislas 42, Tomkins 52

Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, D.Collins, Ferdinand, Ben Haim, Malbranque (Edwards 75), Richardson, Leadbitter, Whitehead, Murphy (Jones 54), Cisse
Subs not used: Fulop, Nosworthy, McShane, Reid, Healy

Match sponsor

• Saturday's match sponsor is KBC. Based in Belgium, KBC is an integrated bancassurance group, catering mainly for retail customers,small and medium-sized enterprises and private banking clientele.

Last time out

Sunday 4 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Everton 2-2 West Ham United
West Ham United: Green, Upson, Spector, Da Costa, Parker, Kovac, Noble, Faubert, Stanislas (Gabbidon 89), Cole, Mido (Ilan 78)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Daprela, Spence, Payne, McCarthy
Goals: Da Costa 60, Ilan 87


Saturday 3 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
Sunderland 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Sunderland: Gordon, Ferdinand, Turner, Da Silva, Richardson, Cattermole, Meyler, Henderson, Malbranque (Zenden 78), Bent (Jones 79), Campbell (Bardsley 89)
Subs not used: Carson, Benjani, Kilgallon, Cana
Goals: Bent 1, 29 pen, Zenden 86


Last meeting

The teams last met on Saturday 31 October 2009 when the Hammers raced into a two-goal lead before the home side battled back to draw 2-2, despite having Kenwyne Jones dismissed just before half-time. Radoslav Kovac was sent off on 87 minutes.

West Ham United: Green, Upson, Spector, Ilunga, Tomkins, Kovac (sent off 87), Noble, Behrami (Diamanti 67), Collison, Cole, Franco (Hines 72)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Gabbidon, Jimenez, Faubert, Stanislas
Goals: Franco 30, Cole 36

Sunderland: Gordon, Turner, Da Silva, Nosworthy, Richardson, Cana, Henderson, Malbranque (McCartney, 81 ) , Reid, Bent, Jones (sent off 45)
Subs not used: Fulop, Murphy, Ferdinand, Bardsley, Healy, Meyler
Goals: Reid 39, Richardson 76

Head to head

Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)

31 October 2009 - Sunderland 2-2 West Ham United
4 April 2009 - West Ham United 2-0 Sunderland
23 November 2008 - Sunderland 0-1 West Ham United
29 March 2008 - Sunderland 2-1 West Ham United
21 October 2007 - West Ham United 3-1 Sunderland
4 February 2006 - West Ham United 2-0 Sunderland

Overall record v Sunderland (all competitions) W 30 D 20 L 28

Next up

• West Ham United will next be in action on Monday 19 April when they travel to UEFA Europa League semi-finalists Liverpool - three days before their semi-final first leg - while Sunderland welcome another relegation-threatened side Burnley on Saturday 17 April.

Referee

• Saturday's referee is Mike Jones, who last took charge of the Hammers for the 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on 17 January.

• Of more relevance is that he was the man in the middle almost exactly a year ago this week when the Hammers won 2-0 against Sunderland at the Boleyn Ground.

• Jones started refereeing at 15, and is now on his 17th season on the National List, four as an assistant and thirteen as a referee. 2009/10 is his second season as a Select Group referee.

• He was appointed to referee the 2009 FA Trophy final between Stevenage Borough and York City and to referee the 2007 League Two Play-Off final between Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town, both at Wembley.

• He was the fourth official for the 2004 Carling Cup final between Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers and was also the man in the middle for the 1997 Conference League Cup final and the 2005 Women's FA Cup final.

West Ham United

• Last season's 'double' and this season's draw with the Black Cats maintained an impressive run of form for the Hammers. They have lost just once in their last six meetings between the two sides, with four wins and a draw.

• Carlton Cole, with nine goals to date this campaign, has still never scored two goals in a game for West Ham.

• Robert Green is on a run of 121 unbroken starts in the Barclays Premier League.

• Alessandro Diamanti's eight goals in all competitions has left him just one behind top scorer Carlton Cole.

• In terms of attacking ambition, Diamanti leads the Hammers statistics in terms of shots (81), shots on target (44), shots off target (37) and assists (4).

• West Ham have scored 40 goals this season in the league with 15 different players on target. Carlton Cole leads the way (nine), with Alessandro Diamanti (seven), Guille Franco (four) and Matthew Upson (three) next in line. Jack Collison, Mark Noble, Junior Stanislas, Ilan and Manuel da Costa have each scored twice. Finally, the departed Luis Jimenez, Zavon Hines, Radoslav Kovac, Valon Behrami, Julien Faubert and Scott Parker have also registered. An own-goal from Everton's Tony Hibbert completes the tally.

• Parker has been cautioned ten times this season, and his caution last weekend at Everton means he will miss the Sunderland date and the trip to Liverpool on Monday week.

• West Ham's biggest ever win over Sunderland came in the shape of an 8-0 success at the Boleyn Ground on 19 October 1968. Geoff Hurst scored six goals - including a hat-trick in each half - while Bobby Moore and a young Trevor Brooking added one apiece.

Sunderland

• Darren Bent is the third highest scorer in the Premier League with 22 goals. No other player has been caught offside more than him in the division (49). Unsurprisingly Bent, with 83, has had more shots than any other Black Cats player this season.

• Bent, with his effort after 36 seconds against Spurs last week, has scored the quickest goal in the top-flight this season.

• Sunderland lead the league in red cards, with six players sent off this season.

• They have not won at the Boleyn Ground since a 2-1 success in April 2005.

• Sunderland's biggest ever win over West Ham came on 5 March 1977, when the Black Cats romped to a 6-0 victory over the Londoners. Their best performance in east London was a 3-0 triumph on 25 April 1931.

Team news

With Scott Parker absent through suspension, the main news will be to see whether Valon Behrami (knee) and Alessandro Diamanti (groin) are able to return to the matchday squad.

• Gianfranco Zola could again be without Herita Ilunga (tendon injury), James Tomkins (ankle) and Jack Collison (knee).

• Kieron Dyer was substituted at half-time in in last month's defeat by Stoke City while Guille Franco may still not return from an achilles problem.

• Luis Boa Morte is working hard on his fitness after missing the whole season to date with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and other knee problems suffered last July.

• Zavon Hines will not play again this season with a knee injury.

• Sunderland are waiting for news on George McCartney and Andy Reid with hamstring troubles while John Mensah is doubtful with a knee problem. Lorik Cana is expected to be missing with a groin injury.

Old boys

• Anton Ferdinand began his career at West Ham's famed Academy, making 163 appearances and scoring five goals for the Hammers before joining Sunderland in August 2008.

• Left-back George McCartney, who joined Sunderland in summer 2008, spent two seasons at the Boleyn Ground, making 71 appearances and scoring one goal for West Ham. The Northern Ireland defender made 157 appearances during his first spell with Sunderland before joining the Hammers in August 2006.

• Midfielder Kieran Richardson began his career at West Ham, but failed to make a first team appearance before joining Manchester United in 2002. The 24-year-old joined Sunderland in July 2007.

• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Dick Bell, Gary Breen, Clive Clarke, Keith Coleman, Ernest England, John Foreman, Harry Forster, Jack Foster, Harry Hooper, Don Hutchison, Mick McGiven, Andy Melville, Billy Moore, Bryan 'Pop' Robson and Dave Swindlehurst.

General information

• For ticket information, click here

• Saturday's weather forecast is for a sunny day with some cloud. Temperatures are expected to peak at around the 14C mark.