Venue: Stadium of Light Date: Saturday, 7 March Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC London 94.9, BBC London DAB & Online; Text commentary on BBC Sport website
Tottenham captain Ledley King may return at centre-back after resting his troublesome knee this week.
Striker Jermain Defoe and right-back Alan Hutton (both foot) remain on the sidelines but are not far away from returning to training.
Sunderland midfielder Teemu Tainio will miss the game against his former club because of a knee injury.
Manager Ricky Sbragia has no other new injury or suspension concerns ahead of the trip to north London.
Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cudicini, Bale, Gunter, Dawson, Chimbonda, King, Woodgate, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Modric, Giovani, Taarabt, O'Hara, Campbell, Keane, Pavlyuchenko, Bent.
Sunderland (from): Fulop, Gordon, Bardsley, McCartney, Ferdinand, Collins, McShane, Davenport, Ben Haim, Whitehead, Malbranque, Leadbitter, Richardson, Edwards, Yorke, Reid, Cisse, Jones, Murphy, Healy.
Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia:
"Things remain tight in the league and we need to win our home games, it's a big fortnight for us.
"We took a point from games at Arsenal and Liverpool and you would take that all the time, now we need to kick on.
"Spurs have a good squad and they shouldn't really be in this position. But they are because they haven't won enough games; it shows that it's not easy in the Premier League."
Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon:
"We know we shouldn't be in the bottom half of the league with the players we have at the club.
"It's just a pity the way we started, it killed us really.
"But there are still 10 games to go and we could still kick on. If we could get seventh it would be unbelievable but the main thing is to keep in the league."
Two clubs still uncomfortably close to the relegation zone meet at the Stadium of Light in a fixture originally scheduled for last weekend, but rearranged as Tottenham were involved in the Carling Cup final.
These have identical league records; they have both played 27 matches, won eight, drawn seven and lost 12, but Spurs have a superior goal difference of eight. They are five and four places above the drop zone with a four-point cushion.
They had contrasting results midweek; while Sunderland lost 2-0 at Liverpool, Spurs thrashed Middlesbrough 4-0 at home.
Victory would see Spurs moving into the top half, while three points for Sunderland would see them leapfrogging their opponents.
Sunderland have been beaten 10 times by Tottenham in the Premier League. Only Manchester United have beaten them more often (11).
Distance between the clubs: 271 miles (437 kilometres)
SUNDERLAND
14th 31 points
Highest realistically achievable: 11th
Lowest could fall: 14th
1. Tuesday's loss at Anfield ended a four-game unbeaten league run of two wins and two draws.
2. Need a draw to total 300 all-time Premier League points.
3. Won four, drawn four and lost four of the 12 Premier League games under Ricky Sbragia.
4. Bidding for a third successive home league win, after defeating Fulham and Stoke in their last two at the Stadium of Light.
5. Kept clean sheets in four of the last five home league games.
6. Squandered an unmatched 18 top-flight points from winning positions.
7. Won one of their 10 matches in which the opening goal has been conceded.
8. Amongst the remaining fixtures are home matches against Manchester United on 11 April and Chelsea, 24 May.
TOTTENHAM HOSTPUR
13th 31 points
Highest achievable: 10th
Lowest could fall: 14th
1. Won the last two against Hull and Middlesbrough.
2. Not won three in a row in the Premier League since Martin Jol's side registered five on the bounce between 21 February and 1 April 2007.
3. One point down on this same stage last year. The current total of 31 points after 27 games is their worst return in 11 seasons.
4. Not lost a Premier League game this season in which they've scored first; won six, drawn one.
5. Lost 12 of the 16 matches in which they've gone behind from the opening whistle.
6. The win at the KC Stadium were their first points in five on the road.
7. Picked up one point from the last available 15 in the North-East since beating Middlesbrough at the Riverside on 8 April 2007.
8. Two tough league matches follow this; away to Aston Villa and home to Chelsea. Still to visit Manchester United and Liverpool.
SUNDERLAND
Djibril CISSE is the club's top Premier League scorer with nine goals.
Kenwyne JONES is a double shy of 50 career goals.
If selected:-
Daryl MURPHY will be making his 100th league appearance for Sunderland.
Phil BARDSLEY will be making his 50th career Premier League appearance (Manchester United, Aston Villa and Sunderland).
Danny COLLINS will be making his 150th appearance in a Sunderland shirt.
Nick COLGAN will be keeping goal in his 250th English and Scottish league game (Chelsea, Brentford, Reading, Hibernian, Stockport, Barnsley, Dundee United and Wigan).
Teemu TAINIO will be making his 100th appearance for an English club (Tottenham and Sunderland).
TAINIO will be coming up against former clubmates. The 29 year old Finland international made 83 appearances (61 in the league) and scored three Premier League goals in three seasons for the North London club from July 2005.
Andy REID will also be facing former colleagues. The 26 year old Republic of Ireland international made 27 appearances (26 in the league) and scored one league goal for Tottenham, between January 2005 and August 2006.
Steed MALBRANQUE will be opposing his former club. The 29 year old French midfielder made 96 appearances (62 in the league) and scored 12 goals (six league) for Spurs between August 2006 and his close season move to the Stadium of Light.
Loanee Calum DAVENPORT made 20 appearances, 15 in the league, and scored one league goal in three and a half years with Spurs before his £3m move to West Ham in January 2007.
If on the field from the outset:-
Dwight YORKE will be making his 50th Premier League start for the Black Cats.
TOTTENHAM HOSTPUR
Darren BENT is Tottenham's top Premier League scorer with nine goals.
BENT is a hat-trick shy of 50 career Premier League goals.
If selected:-
Pascal CHIMBONDA will be facing a former club. The 30 year old defender made 16 appearances (13 in the league) in 17 months with Sunderland before his return to Spurs in this season's January transfer window.
There's never been a goalless draw between these clubs in the Premier League.
This corresponding match kicked off the 2007-08 Premier League season. Michael Chopra's goal insured a winning start to Roy Keane's Premier League managerial career.
Djibril Cisse headed the winner eight minutes from time in this season's reverse fixture, to set up the possibility of a first Premier League double over Spurs for the Black Cats. Sunderland last chalked up home and away victories over Tottenham in the top-flight season of 1969-70.
Home and away
League: Sunderland 34 wins, Spurs 33, Draws 24
Prem: Sunderland 4 wins, Spurs 10, Draws 1
at Sunderland only
League: Sunderland 21 wins, Spurs 12, Draws 12
Prem: Sunderland 3 wins, Spurs 3, Draws 1
Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
12 August 2007 - Ref: Alan Wiley
Sunderland scorer: Chopra 90
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Sunderland
23 August 2008 - Ref: Mike Dean
Spurs scorer: Jenas 73
Sunderland scorers: Richardson 55, Cisse 83
Phil Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire)
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