Sunderland are back in Premier League action on Tuesday evening as David Moyes and his players head to the King Power Stadium.
The Black Cats suffered a narrow defeat on Saturday as Watford clinched three points at Vicarage Road, but opponents Leicester City continued their march up the Premier League table with a 2-0 victory over Stoke City.
Champions last year, the Foxes stuttered domestically prior to the departure of Claudio Ranieri, but under Craig Shakespeare they’ve been resurgent picking up four top-flight wins on the bounce.
13 points separate the sides heading into Tuesday’s match-up and Sunderland will be focussed on bridging the gap to safety, with Swansea City’s Sunday stalemate against Middlesbrough seeing the latter move eight points clear of the Black Cats.
But with nine games remaining, it’s all still to play for.
The last meeting between the sides took place in December and Sunderland came out on top, withJan Kirchhoff and Jermain Defoe striking to seal a Stadium of Light win.
At the King Power Stadium, the Black Cats’ most-recent visit ended in defeat as an opening-day 4-2 win set the Foxes en route to eternal glory.
Defoe and Jamie Vardy are likely to play a decisive role and the duo have often impressed against their counterparts.
Both scorers in England’s win over Lithuania over a week ago, Defoe has netted four goals in his last five top-flight appearances against the Foxes, with Vardy scoring three times against the Black Cats.
But Sunderland face an anxious wait over the fitness of their attacking spearhead, with Defoe forced to miss training on Sunday after suffering a knock against the Hornets.
Leicester, meanwhile, will be without captain and defensive stalwart Wes Morgan, with Nampalys Mendy also ruled out of the midweek encounter.
But record-breaking boss Shakespeare will be able to call on Marc Albrighton, with the midfielder available after missing Saturday’s game against Stoke due to illness.
OTHER INFO
Tickets are no longer available and will not be on sale at the King Power Stadium.
If you can’t make the game, then don’t fear because we have every base covered with extensive coverage on safc.com and on Twitter by following @SunderlandAFC.
Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett will also be ON AIR on safc.com from around 7pm.