Sunderland are 20th with 11 points
and their highest achievable position
after Match Day 33 is 20th while
the lowest is also 20th
- Sunderland will eclipse their own record and suffer the earliest relegation from the Premiership, if Portsmouth beat Blackburn or Birmingham win the evening fixture at Wigan regardless of their own result home to Fulham. They'll become the fourth club to be demoted from the Premier League on three occasions, following Crystal Palace (four) and Nottingham Forest and Leicester (three each). The Wearsiders will only be given a stay of execution if they win and none of Pompey, Birmingham or West Brom (away to Aston Villa on Sunday) manage a victory.
- No club has ever gone through an English top flight season without a home victory, but the Black Cats are in danger of doing so. Newcastle and Arsenal are the only other clubs yet to visit the Stadium of Light after the Cottagers. Last Saturday's 2-2 draw with Everton was not only their first point under Kevin Ball, it ended a six-match losing run, and took their points total to a paltry 11. Sunderland need another eight from the last six games to avoid this being the lowest ever tally from a Premier League season. Failure to pick up six more points will make this the lowest top flight total in the 25 seasons since three points for a win was introduced. The Stadium of Light club needs one more victory to avoid setting a new mark for least wins in a top flight season, and are two wins short of equalling their own previous lowest mark of four in the Premiership. They've lost 25 times. Another five defeats will break the record for most losses in a Premiership campaign.
- The Mackems have never beaten Fulham in the Premier League, and have not enjoyed a home League victory over them in 18 years, since the 2-0 triumph at third League level on 1 March 1988. Their last home victory over the Cottagers at the top League grade was 39 years ago - a 3-0 triumph on 23 August 1967.
- Adrift by 16 points from all other clubs in the top table, and 17 points from safety.
- Not won in 11 in all competitions.
- Drawn two and lost nine since beating West Bromwich Albion 0-1 away on 21 January.
- Won one of the last 13 League and Cup encounters.
- Pressing for a first win in 11 Premiership engagements.
- Sunderland won just four games, lost 27, scored 21 goals, conceded 65 and gained a record low 19 points when relegated from the Premiership in the 2002/03 season.
- The record lowest points tally in top flight football since three points for a win was introduced in the 1981/82 season, was 17 accrued by Stoke from 42 matches in 1984/85.
- Least wins in an English top flight season was three by Stoke in 1889/1890 - the first ever season of League football when just 22 matches were played.
- Won fewer Premiership matches than any other club (two).
- Lost more top tier games than any other club this term (25).
- Own the least effective attack in the top table - 21 goals in 32 games.
- Kept only three clean sheets in the highest League (v Middlesbrough, Bolton and West Brom) - fewer than any other club.
- 11 of the 57 League goals conceded, have been leaked in the last 10 minutes.
- Claimed seven points from 25 engagements since the 0-2 victory at Middlesbrough on 25 September.
- Their only points in 24 Premiership matches have come from a 0-0 home draw with Bolton on Boxing Day, a 0-1 victory at West Brom on 21 January, a 1-1 stalemate, home to Tottenham on 12 February, and a 2-2 draw at Everton on April Fools' Day.
- Lost 20 of the last 24 League outings.
- Picked up 0.34 points per game this term.
- Dropped 85 points this season so far.
- Lost 21 of 23 games in which the opening goal has been conceded.
- Claimed 17 top tier points from the last 171 available.
- Lost 40 of 47 Premiership games, and 46 of 56, spanning the 2002/03 and current seasons.
- "Doubled" seven times this season - more than any other club.
- Gone 14 Premiership matches since a goalless draw.
- The only club in England without a home League win this season.
- Striving for a first win in 17 League games on Wearside.
- Mustered only four points from 16 home games this term, and lost 12 of them.
- Failed to score in seven of the last nine League games at the Stadium of Light, scoring just two goals in the nine.
- Jon STEAD opened his account for Sunderland on his 30th appearance, against Everton last weekend. If he gets a run out in this game, he'll be playing the day after turning 23.
- Dean WHITEHEAD and Anthoy LE TALLEC are Sunderland's top scorers this season with four goals each.
- WHITEHEAD and Liam LAWRENCE jointly head the club's Premiership scorers list with three goals a piece.
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Fulham are 15th with 36 points
and their highest achievable position
after Match Day 33 is 15th while
the lowest could be 16th.
- FULHAM will never have a better chance to break their duck away from home. While Sunderland have drawn four and lost 12 of their games on home soil, the west Londoners have drawn four and lost 13 of their 17 Premiership games on the road. The Cottagers remain the only English club without an away League victory. They've managed only two points in 12 away matches in just under six months, from goalless draws at West Brom and Aston Villa.
- The Cottagers are three places above the drop zone and have a nine point cushion between themselves and the bottom three, despite just one win in seven Premiership outings. But that victory was a remarkable one - home to champions Chelsea.
- Two headed goals by Collins John gave Fulham all three points in the reverse fixture in early January, now they look to do the 'double' over Sunderland for the second successive occasion - having achieved it when the clubs were last in the top division together in 2002/03. The only other time Fulham defeated Sunderland home and away in the same League campaign was in 1958/59.
- Managed 14 Premiership matches since a score draw (3-3, home to Villa on 28 December).
- One draw in 15 League and Cup matches.
- Not scored more than a single goal in any of the last seven Premiership outings, since a 6-1 eclipse of West Brom on 11 February.
- Lost the lead 11 times in the Premiership - that's more occasions than any other club.
- Lost four top flight games from a winning position.
- Conceded five League goals in stoppage time.
- Premiership matches involving Fulham have yielded 95 goals (41 for, 54 against), a 2.88 goals per game.
- Only four of Fulham's 36 points have been secured away from Craven Cottage. The difference of 32 points is the widest such dichotamy in the highest division.
- Picked up 14 wins from 93 away Premier League matches all-time.
- Picked up one point from a last possible 27 on the road.
- Without an away League victory in 17, since their last match of last season on the road (1-3 at Blackburn on 7 May).
- Only points from their top flight travels have come from draws with Newcastle, Charlton, West Brom and Aston Villa.
- Looking to pick up points from successive away games for the first time this season, having finished goalless at Villa Park on the most recent of their Premiership trips.
- Kept only two clean sheets on their top flight travels this season, and two in 28 League games on the road since the beginning of December 2004.
- If he lines-up for the opening whistle, Brian McBRIDE will be making his 50th League start for Fulham.
- If involved, Mark PEMBRIDGE will be making his 400th career domestic League appearance (Luton, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Everton and Fulham).
- Suspended: Michael BROWN
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THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE -
2 January 2006
Fulham 2-1 Sunderland |
| HEAD TO HEAD RESULTS |
|
Sunderland |
Draw |
Fulham |
| League |
17 |
11 |
13 |
| Premier |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
| HEAD TO HEAD at Sunderland |
|
Sunderland |
Draw |
Fulham |
| League |
9 |
7 |
4 |
| Premier |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|