After meeting less than a fortnight ago in a seven-goal thriller, Sunderland and Chelsea go head-to-head again as the two look to progress to the Capital One Cup semi-final.
Rooted firmly at the bottom of the Premier League, Sunderland will be hoping to pull off an upset at home against favourites Chelsea, an upset that could possibly kick-start their season.
The return of Lee Cattermole from suspension last week helped Sunderland record their third clean sheet of the season away to West Ham. If the Black Cats are to proceed to the semi-finals, the combative midfielder will have to do a fantastic job of protecting the back four.
Jose Mourinho will be looking for a better defensive performance from his players, as his Chelsea team conceded three goals the last time the two sides met. However, the Blues have won their last nine at the Stadium of Light.
Having twice won the competition in his previous spell as Chelsea boss, Mourinho will be looking to get his hands on his first trophy of the season following a defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup.
Ahead of tonight’s Capital One Cup tie, Mourinho advised Gus Poyet to “play the kids” and rest the first team for the battle against relegation.
“If Gus asks me for advice, I’ll give him some advice,” Mourinho said.
“He’s playing to avoid relegation. He has to play the kids from the academy in our game and keep the guys fresh for the next weekend.”
However, Poyet is hoping that a win against Chelsea will give them a confidence boost to help lift themselves out of the relegation zone.
"I don't try to look too far ahead," the Black Cats boss said.
"If I start thinking about Norwich, already it gets difficult to make decisions. But if we want to get out of the relegation zone, then we have to win matches, become winners."
Poyet will be without midfielder Jack Colback, who misses the tie because of a virus, with Carlos Cuellar and Keiren Westwood the only other injured senior players.
Picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Palace, Branislav Ivanovic will be unavailable for Chelsea, whilst Ashley Cole could make a return at left-back with Azpilicueta moving to right-back.
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