Liverpool v SAFC: Preview Pack
By Martin Walker (SAFC.com)
Your complete guide to Sunderland's game against Liverpool.
General news:
Sunderland jumped out of the relegation zone with their 2-0 win over Birmingham on Tuesday. The Black Cats are currently 14th in the Barclays Premier League with six wins, five draws and 12 defeats, having scored 24 goals and conceded 42. They're two points behind 13th-placed Middlesbrough.
Sunderland are yet to win away from home. They've drawn two (Birmingham and Middlesbrough) and lost 10 on their travels, scoring nine goals and conceding 29.
League form guide: LWLWLW
Michael Chopra is available again after serving a one-match suspension on Tuesday night.
Four other Sunderland players are currently on four yellow cards - Phil Bardsley, Danny Collins, Grant Leadbitter and Ross Wallace.
Carlos Edwards (broken leg) is not expected to feature tomorrow.
Wallace is out for up to four months with knee ligament injury.
Sunderland will play Liverpool in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.ON. The Reds beat Arsenal 1-0 in round four of the competition on Tuesday night to set up the fifth round tie at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday February 13, 7pm kick-off.
International round-up:
Dickson Etuhu played his first game of the African Nations on Tuesday night as he helped Nigeria to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament. Berti Vogts' side face one of the competition favourites Ghana in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Kenwyne Jones has been called up to the Trinidad and Tobago squad for a friendly against Guadeloupe in the Port of Spain next Wednesday - Jones hasn't played for the Soca Warriors since October 2006.
Paul McShane, Liam Miller and Daryl Murphy have all been called up to the Republic of Ireland squad to play Brazil in a friendly at Croke Park on Wednesday February 6.
Goalkeeper Marton Fulop has been called up to the Hungary squad for a friendly against Cyprus in Limasol on Wednesday February 6.
Anthony Stokes has been called up for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s for their European Championship qualifier against England, at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium, on Tuesday February 5.
Youngster Ryan Noble, who plays for Sunderland's Under-16s side, has been called up by England at Under-17s level. The striker will play in the Algarve Tournament, which begins this weekend (February 2). The other countries involved are Denmark, France and Portugal.
The opposition:
Liverpool crashed to their third league defeat of the season on Wednesday night when they were beaten 1-0 at West Ham.
Rafael Benitez's side are still looking for their first league win of 2008 after drawing three straight games (1-1 at home to Wigan, 1-1 at Middlesbrough and 2-2 at home to Aston Villa) followed by their defeat at Upton Park.
Their indifferent form has seen Liverpool slip to seventh in the Barclays Premier League on 40 points, although they have a game in hand. Their last win was at Derby (2-1) on Boxing Day and their last league win at home was a 4-1 victory against Portsmouth on December 22.
Argentinean midfielder Javier Mascherano is available again after he served a one-match suspension at West Ham.
Danish defender Daniel Agger is not available - he's been out since September with a broken metatarsal.
Moroccan striker Nabil El-Zhar could be back into contention for the weekend after Morocco failed to qualify to the knockout stage of the African Nations this week, although he is yet to make a league appearance this season.
Benitez has signed Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel from Zenit St Petersburg for £6m during the January transfer window (he's already played twice), while he has also sold Mohamed Sissoko to Juventus for £8.2m.
Liverpool have only lost once at home this season, a 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on December 16.
They have won four of their 11 games at Anfield, drawn six and lost one, scoring 23 goals and conceding nine. Birmingham (0-0 in September) and Wigan (1-1 on January 2) have both drawn there.
The Reds have already played 37 games in all competitions this season (compared to Sunderland's 26) - 23 league games, eight in the Champions League and three in both the FA Cup and Carling Cup.
League form guide: WDDDDL
Liverpool finished third in the Barclays Premier League last season, 15 points behind runners-up Chelsea having won 20 games, drawn eight and lost 10.
At home, they won 14 games, drew four and lost one (against Manchester United), scoring 39 goals and conceding just seven.