Sunderland's prize for beating Chelsea in May is three days to recover before facing them
Sunderland beat Chelsea 2-1 on the last day of last season to finish seventh and reach Europe, and Chelsea finished a point outside it. Now Sunderland are bottom, with one league point since their Europa League campaign began, and meet a fourth-placed Chelsea who have had a week to prepare against their three days.
Trai Hume scored after 25 minutes, Malo Gusto turned the ball into his own net just after half-time, and Wesley Fofana was sent off for a second yellow card. That was the last afternoon of last season at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland won 2-1, finished seventh and went into Europe for the first time since 1973; Chelsea finished tenth, a point outside the European places.
Chelsea should win it against a tired Sunderland side, bottom of the table and without a league win since August.
Europe has gone well. Sunderland beat AZ 1-0, won 2-1 at Torreense and drew at Lech Poznań before Thursday, when Dinamo Zagreb won 2-0 at the Stadium of Light and the crowd booed at half-time and at the end. The league has gone the other way. Their only win came against Fulham on 30 August, they have taken one point since the European campaign began, and they are bottom with five from nine matches. Asked about his job, Régis Le Bris said the situation was "not unexpected".
Chelsea have had none of that. Out of Europe, and out of the League Cup since losing on penalties at Anfield on 28 October, they have had a week since beating Manchester United 2-0; Sunderland have had three days since Thursday. Xabi Alonso, who took over after May, has them fourth on 16 points, and his decisions are about fitness rather than rest. Emiliano Martínez, who fractured his jaw at Everton on 17 October, has been cleared to play in a mask after Mike Penders, 21, started the last three matches, and Moisés Caicedo has what Alonso called "a discomfort more than the calf".
What Sunderland have is their own ground. Four of their five points have come there, against one from five away matches, and they won the last two meetings with Chelsea 2-1 each time. They will be without Omar Alderete, sent off at Coventry, and Dan Ballard and Habib Diarra are injured. "We need to be pragmatic first because it is clear if you concede goals it is more difficult to win the game," Le Bris said.
This is the last round before the international break, and it decides what Sunderland carry into it: eight points and, as the table stands, a place above Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Crystal Palace, or two weeks at the bottom with their manager's future the question everyone asks of the club.
