prem preview: sunderland-tottenham hotspur
 
what: premier league
who: sunderland v tottenham
when: saturday, 11th august, 2007, kick-off 12:45 local (bst)
where: stadium of light, sunderland.
 
it is back

another summer has flown by and to our relief it is time for the premiership once again and there is intrigue and expectation everywhere you look, especially at the match that kicks off the party, which is sunderland’s match at home to tottenham.

great expectations

sunderland are back in the top flight after just one season down in the championship, but the club is barely recognisable from the one that was humiliatingly relegated with a record low points tally.

the rise and rise of the black cats has been remarkable and has led to a wave optimism that has not been seen for a long time in this area of the north east. having been relegated in such embarrassing circumstances they started last season in equally shoddy fashion, but after appointing roy keane as manager they never looked back and ended up lifting the title in may.

it was just the start of the surprises as the club’s new ownership, led by irishman niall quinn has undertaken an ambitious spending spree this summer, which leaves sunderland not hoping for a miraculous survival, but demanding safety at the very least.

close to £30m has been spent on new players and it does not seem that the spending has stopped yet, but they are not the only club that has spent heavily this summer, which is partly way the new premiership campaign should be even more interesting than ever.

tottenham too have spent big, as they have done now for a few years, and they too have great expectations following on from successive fifth-placed finishes in the premiership, which while being their best achievement for two decades is no longer deemed acceptable.

the north london club, in some quarters at least, are now deemed to have made the big four a five, but with there only being four champions league places something has to give.

new faces

sunderland have spent a lot of money on a lot of players not many people know much about, which in many ways increases the pressure on the management to deliver on what they’ve signed away.

the biggest of all their signings has come this week in the shape of scottish international goalkeeper craig gordon, who arrived for an initial £7m and should go straight into the team to face spurs.

the other big money additions have been kieran richardson, who arrives from manchester united’s substitute bench with lots of potential, and michael chopra, who has seen his price-tag rise ten-fold after failing to make the grade down the road at st james’ park.

egyptian striker mido may yet also arrive from saturday’s opponents, who boast an impressive forward line after their biggest signing of the summer in the form of england striker darren bent.

bent, along with dimitar berbatov, robbie keane and jermain defoe are all available for the first match of the season so all eyes will be on jol’s first team sheet.

two of his other new additions younes kaboul and kevin-price boateng should also be involved, but the exciting teenager gareth bale misses out through injury.

form guide (all matches are friendlies)

sunderland

aug 04 v juventus (h) drew 1-1

aug 01 v rangers (a) drew 3-3

jul 30 v cork city (a) drew 1-1

jul 28 v bohemians (a) won 1-0

jul 21 v scunthorpe (a) lost 1-0

jul 18 v darlington (a) won 2-0

tottenham

aug 04 v torino (h) won 2-0

aug 01 v leyton orient (a) won 4-2

jul 28 v orlando pirates (a) won 3-0

jul 24 v orlando pirates (a) won 2-1

jul 21 v kaizer chiefs (a) won 2-1

jul 12 v st patricks (a) won 1-0

team news

sunderland

(to follow)

squad - to follow

tottenham

jol has his injury problems before the season has even started as skipper ledley king is again on the sidelines and will be for a number of weeks, while winger aaron lennon is also missing having been out of action all summer. he is also missing all of his first three choices at left-back with new signing bale joining lee young-pyo and benoit assout-ekotto in being unavailable. ricardo rocha is likely to play out of position to fill in.

squad - to follow

players to watch

sunderland - kieran richardson

it is often hard to break through the youth ranks at a massive team and make the grade, few manage to pull it off, while many end of slipping away into the oblivion of the lower leagues when they are finally sold off in their early twenties having suffered from the lack of first team football. richardson will be hoping to have made his move early enough to prove he is good enough at the top. he is a player that has had much promise and even scored a brace on his england debut in what now seems a distant memory. however, he never had a long run in united’s first team and consequently has suffered, but he is still young and will be hungry to perform.

tottenham - younes kaboul

it would be too easy to name bent or any of spurs’ other strikers, but in his first game in english football it will be more interesting to watch the performance of kaboul. the french defender has arrived with little profile despite his £8m price-tag, but comes with great reviews from within french football following his good work with bordeaux and france’s u21 side. with king injured he will get his chance to make his mark in the team from the outset. if injuries persist he could be a massively important player for spurs this season.

prediction

opening matches to a league season are notoriously hard to predict as they are often cagey affairs and this one is no exception with its early start time for a tv audience. there will be many new players on show, but tottenham will have bar far the more settled set of players with only kaboul likely to start without any prior premiership experience. this should give the londoners the edge and they can pick up a massive early three points to send the jitters down the spines of sunderland supporters right at the start of the campaign. 2-0 away win.

rob hogley