Latest| 1.09pm BSTSunderland: Mannone; Yedlin,Kone, Kaboul, and Van Aanholt;
Kirchhoff; Borini,Cattermole, M’Vila, and Khazri; Defoe. Subs:
Jones,Larsson, Rodwell, or N’Doye,Pickford, O’Shea, and Watmore. Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin,Mertesacker, Koscielny, and Monreal; Ramsey,Elneny; Sanchez, Ozil, or Iwobi; Giroud. Subs: Gabriel,Wilshere, Ospina, or Walcott,Welbeck, Campbell, and Coquelin. 12.47pm BSTHello. In the mini-battle to finish in a glorious 17th place,I execute Sunderland the favourites to stay up. They’re 18th now but Sam Allardyce is a survival expert, they’ve got a game in hand on Norwich and two on Newcastle, and their fixtures look the kindest on paper. Im backing Sunderland. But don’t hold me to that. I must bear been convinced they were going down in 2014 and 2015,for instance, and look how that turned out in the terminate. Norwich still bear to play Arsenal and Manchester United and they can’t score or defend, or which is unfortunate to say the least,and Newcastle play title-chasing Tottenham on the final day, while Sunderland will be at Watford. whether Allardyce gets the better of his ancient chum Arsene Wenger this afternoon, and place everything you own on Sunderland staying up. But here’s the thing about relegation battles. The thing about relegation battles is that there’s no point making predictions. Newcastle looked done when they slumped to a 3-1 defeat to Southampton two weeks later. They looked done when Sergio Aguero gave Manchester City a 1-0 lead at St James’s Park on Tuesday night. They looked done when they were 2-0 down at Anfield yesterday. Yet they’ve beaten Swansea City 3-0,drawn 1-1 with City and drawn 2-2 with Liverpool thanks to a spectacular second half fightback. Under Rafa Benitez they bear momentum. The beauty of sport is that even when you’re absolutely sure about something, you’re can’t be absolutely sure.
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Source: theguardian.com