Stoke City host Sunderland at the Bet365 Stadium this Saturday in an important weekend in the Championship. The two sides are at opposite ends of the table and both need the three points for safety and a push for promotion respectively.
Stoke currently sit 21st in the Championship, just one spot above the relegation zone. In 11 games Stoke have three wins, one draw and seven losses, leaving them on ten points, just two points above the drop zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Stoke have one win and four losses. Aaron Connolly, Adama Traore and Regan Slater all scored to give Hull the 3 - 0 lead going into the closing stages of the game. Andre Vidigal did manage to get Stoke on the scoresheet, but it was too late as Hull won 3 - 1. In the Third Round of the League Cup, Stoke travelled to Bournemouth. Dominic Solanke and Joe Rothwell both scored in the early minutes of the second half to give Bournemouth the 2 - 0 win.
The win came away at Bristol City. Sam Bell and Nahki Wells put City into an early 2 - 0 lead, with Stoke only managing to halve that lead going into halftime with a goal from Mehdi Leris. However, in the second half, Sead Haksabanovic and Nathan Lowe both scored in the 3 - 2 win for Stoke. However, the next game saw Stoke slump to a 1 - 0 defeat to Southampton, with Stuart Armstrong grabbing the only goal of the game.
The last time out for Stoke before the international break was against Leicester. Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy both scored in the 2 - 0 win for Leicester.
Sunderland, on the other hand, sit fourth in the Championship after 11 games. The Black Cats have six wins, one draw and four losses, leaving them on 19 points, nine points from automatic promotion.
In their last five games in all competitions, Sunderland have three wins and two losses. Jack Clarke opened the scoring with a penalty, but Harry Leonard equalised just minutes later for Blackburn. Dan Neil then scored in the added time of the first half to give Sunderland the lead going into halftime. Clarke then secured the brace with another goal as Sunderland won 3 - 1. However, the visit from Cardiff saw Sunderland on the losing side. Mark McGuinness scored the only goal of the game in the 87th minute to give Cardiff the 1 - 0 win.
The Black Cats bounced back against Sheffield Wednesday. A goal from Dan Ballard and a brace from Jack Clarke gave Sunderland a big 3 - 0 win over Wednesday. Nial Huggins and Abdoullah Ba both scored in the 2 - 0 win for Sunderland over ten man Watford who had Ryan Andrews sent off late on.
The last outing for Sunderland before the international break was a game to forget against Middlesbrough. Neil was sent off in the added time of the first half which let the flood gates open at Sunderland. Sam Greenwood, Matt Crooks, Isaiah Jones and Marcus Forss all scored in the 4 - 0 win for Middlesbrough.
Stoke and Sunderland have a very long history, with 152 meetings since the first one back in 1891. Sunderland have the better record in the fixture with 66 wins in comparison to Stoke’s 48 wins, with the other 38 meetings ending in a draw.