Chelsea winger Eden Hazard (middle) competes for the ball against two Tottenham Hotspur defenders. (Photo : Getty Images)
Bottom three squad Sunderland AFC (7-17-11, 32 points) will try to escape the relegation zone as the team hosts dethroned defending champions Chelsea FC (12-11-12, 48 points) at the Stadium of Light on May 7th, Saturday in a 2015-2016 Premier League season game.
Sunderland holds the top spot in the bottom three relegation area, one point ahead of Norwich City and 16 points adrift of officially relegated club Aston Villa. They are also one point behind Newcastle United, who recently escaped the zone after pulling off a fourth straight unbeaten performance.
The Black Cats are coming off a 1-1 draw with middling team Stoke City FC on the road at the Britannia Stadium last Saturday, as reported by SkySports.
After a goalless first half of play, scoring began with a low left-footed shot by Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic off a header assist from teammate Peter Crouch at the 50th minute of the match.
As the game neared its end, it looked like Sunderland will be headed to its second loss in six outings as manager Sam Allardyce's team had been struggling with their offense the whole match. However, resident striker Jermain Defoe managed to net one in injury time to salvage the tie and share a point with Stoke City in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, Chelsea forced top contenders Tottenham Hotspur into a tough 2-2 draw at the Stamford Bridge on Monday to virtually give this season's English top flight title to Leicester City, as reported by BBC Sport.
The Spurs scored the first two goals of the game, courtesy of current Premier League top goalscorer Harry Kane and South Korean forward Son Heung-min at the 35th and 44th minutes, to go up by two points at the half.
However, the Blues came roaring back in the second half as they netted two goals of their own from defender Gary Cahill and winger Eden Hazard at the 58th and 83rd minutes.
The draw extinguished Tottenham's title hopes this season as interim manager Guus Hiddink's squad remained in the middle of the current league table.
The predicted result is a 2-0 victory for Chelsea.
Sunderland starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Mannone; Yedlin, Koné, Kaboul, van Aanholt; Kirchhoff; Borini, M'Vila, Cattermole, Khazri; Defoe
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Pedro; Costa
