Saturday twenty eighth December 2025Sunderland v Leeds United – Premier LeagueStadium of Gentle Kick-Off: 14:00Tickets & Match Protection
Tickets: Tickets are bought out.
TV/Stream: Full reside match protection is out there through Sky Sports activities.
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Radio: Full reside match commentary accessible through BBC Radio Newcastle (not on-line)
The build-up…
Instances change, however my favorite fixture was at all times the Boxing Day sport — residence or away — and TV has dictated that this 12 months we play on the twenty eighth. Oh properly, simply one other potential merchandise we are able to record for a future Room 101 episode on Haway The Podcast.
It’s an indication of how this season goes that we might have a look at it when it comes to successful one sport within the final 4, or two within the final eight, however due to the performances, it feels so significantly better.
To be honest, the win over the guests comes into that, however this run additionally consists of that second in opposition to Arsenal, coming from behind to beat Bournemouth, nearly beating Liverpool, Metropolis requiring a deflection to interrupt via, and a great away exhibiting at Brighton.
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Yet one more signal of how we’re going this season might be seen in at this time’s fixture. When the ultimate whistle went in our closing sport of the season – that resulted in a 1-0 defeat at residence to QPR – Leeds had completed a mere 24 factors forward of us. Okay, we misplaced the final 5 making ready for the play-offs, however stick three wins in there, and it’s nonetheless a 15-point hole.
Additionally they had a head begin within the switch market. Not solely did they know they had been promoted for some time, however they’d the time once we had been navigating the play-offs, however as we strategy the midway level of the season, our guests at this time sit 5 factors and two locations above the drop, whereas we’re two factors off a Champions League place.
The entire world is anticipating us to crumble throughout AFCON, and Brighton was the primary signal that groups will know on the very least that they’ve been in a sport.
All that discuss of the truth that this must be a Boxing Day fixture above jogs my memory of when it was simply that – 23 years in the past. Two former England managers (when you embody caretakers) had been in control of each golf equipment, as Terry Venables introduced his facet north to tackle Howard Wilkinson’s Sunderland.
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Our present first-team coach, Michael Proctor, opened the scoring within the first half, however a younger lad by the identify of James Milner equalised simply earlier than the hour to grow to be the youngest goalscorer in Premier League historical past – a file that stood till 2005 when future Sunderland striker James Vaughan scored for Everton. By the way, Robbie Fowler scored the winner that day through a penalty.
However after sixteen years out of the highest flight, it was about time that Leeds returned in 2020. However after three years in that first stint, they returned to the second tier, and two years later, they’re again and determined to re-establish themselves, simply as they had been round 1 / 4 of a century in the past.
A lot so, there was hypothesis that Daniel Farke, the person who received them again, wasn’t the fitting man to take the job of retaining them there. After he survived the hearsay mill, he received off to a good begin with two wins within the first 5, however issues went a bit downhill after that.
One win and 6 defeats adopted within the subsequent eight, which noticed them drop into the underside three, however two wins and two attracts since then have meant they’ve sufficient daylight between themselves and the drop that offers them an opportunity to calm down over the festive interval – properly, a bit anyway.
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Three of these video games got here at Elland Street, which highlights their away type, or lack of it, to date this season. Solely 4 of their nineteen factors amassed to date this time period have come away from Elland Street, and people got here through a win at Wolves and a draw at Brentford. Put this up in opposition to our unbeaten residence file, and we must be favourites this afternoon.
The bookies have the Lads at 6/4 to win the sport, whereas Leeds are priced at 9/5, and the draw is 11/5.
Face to face… in Sunderland
(All competitions)
Final time we met… on the Stadium of LightFriday 4th October 2024ChampionshipSunderland 2-2 Leeds United
[Rigg 9’, Firpo (OG) 90’ – Piroe 22’, Firpo 56’]
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Mepham, O’Nien, Cirkin, Neil, Bellingham, Roberts (Watson), Rigg (Browne), Mundle, Isidor Substitutes not used: Moore, Hjelde, Johnson, Aleksic, Ba, Connolly, Rusyn
Leeds United: Meslier, Bogle, Firpo, Tanaka, Rodon, Struijk, Gnonto (Byram), Rothwell, Piroe (Joseph), Aaronson, Ramazani (Schmidt) Substitutes not used: Darlow, Debayo, Chambers, Gelhardt, Bamford
Attendance: 41,769
It’s going to be a harder afternoon than some would possibly anticipate, however I reckon it may very well be the third time this season that we beat somebody by greater than a single purpose.