Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe. (Photo : Getty Images)
Lowly club Sunderland AFC (8-17-11, 35 points) is in the thick of the fight out of the bottom three relegation for next season as they square off with middling squad Everton FC (10-12-14, 44 points) at the Stadium of Light on May 11th, Wednesday in a 2015-2016 Premier League match.
Sunderland is fourth from the last place in the current English top flight table with only two games left in their season. They are only a point above the bottom three relegation zone currently occupied by Newcastle United, Norwich City, and Aston Villa. Of the three, only the Villans are officially relegated to the Championship next season.
The Black Cats turned back a tough challenge from dethroned champions Chelsea FC, 3-2, also at their home ground of Stadium of Light last Saturday, as per SkySports.
Chelsea scored the opening goal at the 14th minute via a strike from forward Diego Costa. Sunderland midfielder Wahbi Khazri equalized the count at the 41st, but the Blues scored again during the first half stoppage time courtesy of midfielder Nemanja Matic to grab the lead once again.
However, two goals from manager Sam Allardyce's side, from strikers Fabio Borini and Jermain Defoe at the 67th and 70th minutes, gave the lead to the Black Cats as they came away with the win and three points after the game to lift them out of the relegation area.
Meanwhile, Everton is sitting comfortably at the 12th spot of the league table, 10 points above the demotion zone although they have no chance for either a Champions League or Europa League berth at this point of the season. They are safe to remain in the first division competitions next season no matter what is the result of their final two games this term.
The Toffees were thrashed by newly-crowned champions Leicester City, 1-3, at the King Power Stadium during the latter's coronation night last Saturday, as reported by The Guardian.
A double by striker Jamie Vardy at the 5th and 65th minute led the Foxes in the match with a 33rd-minute strike from Andy King completed the hosts' three-goal haul.
Everton netted a consolation one at the 88th with a goal from German striker Kevin Mirallas.
The predicted result is a 2-1 decision for Sunderland.
Sunderland starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Mannone; Yedlin, Koné, Kaboul, Van Aanholt; Kirchhoff; Borini, Cattermole, M'Vila, Khazri; Defoe
Everton starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Joel; Oviedo, Stones, Pennington, Baines; Lennon, Barkley, McCarthy, Cleverley; Niasse, Lukaku
