Arsenal winger Alexis Sanchez. (Photo : Getty Images)
Two teams from opposite ends of the 2015-2016 Premier League table, bottom three club Sunderland AFC (7-17-9, 30 points) and third-running squad Arsenal FC (18-7-9, 63 points), are set to face one another at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, April 24th.
Both teams are coming off lopsided victories in their previous matches and have different motivations for winning in this match against each other.
Sunderland is at the 18th spot of the league table as of the moment, the top most of the bottom three relegation zone, and the team is looking to climb out of it into the safety area with only five matches left in their current campaign.
The Black Cats crushed lowly team Norwich City, 3-0, at the Carrow Road last Saturday to break a six-game winless slide, as reported by SkySports.
Italian striker Fabio Borini scored the opening goal of the contest with a successful penalty kick four minutes before halftime to take a 1-0 lead at the interval. Forward Jermain Defoe doubled his team's lead at the 53rd as he toe-poked a brilliant cross from Borini.
Winger Duncan Watmore sealed the win with an injury time goal, earning Sunderland a much-needed win at this point in the season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal blanked lowly team West Bromwich Albion, 2-0, at their home ground of Emirates Stadium on Thursday to bounce back from two straight drawn matches, as per BBC Sport.
Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez scored a double at the sixth and 38th minutes to lead Arsene Wenger's side to victory, which lifted them up by two points over fourth-placed team Manchester City in the overall standings.
Arsenal and City are tied on points with 60 before the match, but with the win the Gunners were able to move ahead by two as the Citizens had a draw in their most recent fixture.
Both teams still hold a Champions League berth for next season, although Arsenal temporarily has a direct qualifying spot to the said continental tournament's group stage while City is set to qualify in the playoff round of the same.
The predicted result is another 2-0 victory for Arsenal.
Sunderland starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Mannone; Yedlin, Koné, Kaboul, van Aanholt; Kirchhoff; Borini, Cattermole, M'Vila, Khazri; Defoe
Arsenal starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Cech; Bellerín, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Elneny, Ramsey; Sanchez, Özil, Iwobi; Giroud
