Sunderland v Arsenal: David Moyes urges players to use incredible support to their advantage

The Black Cats, without a win all season in the league, are yet to win on home soil.

Middlesbrough, Everton and Crystal Palace have both left Wearside with three points, while Sunderland had to come from behind to draw with West Bromwich Albion.

With just a single point picked up on the road, away at Southampton, it is no surprise Moyes’ under-pressure side prop up the rest of the Premier League.

Arsenal are yet to lose an away game this season, with the Gunners taking 10 points from a possible 12 - the most in the division.

Moyes said: "I would hope when any team comes to the Stadium of Light it doesn’t favour them more than us, I would hope we are the favourites and our home crowd and stadium would be an advantage to us.

"We have almost 45,000 at the game, that is great support for the team and we thank the supporters for that.

"We know we have to give them something to shout about. We have to use our own support to our advantage."

Moyes, though, knows the odds are heavily stacked against his injury-hit team against a Gunners outfit he believes might sneak under the radar this season.

"It will be very difficult to have a really open game with them,” added Moyes.

"Their level of player is on a greater level than ours.

"We have to respect that but I would like to try and have a game but I know that would be difficult.

"Arsenal away from home are very good and we need to watch their speed too, we have to be mindful of what we have defensively."

Sunderland go into the game on the back of the 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.

Moyes made four changes for the game with John O’Shea, Jermain Defoe, Javier Manquillo and Steven Pienaar named on the bench but it was still a strong side.

The rested quartet are set for a swift return to the starting line-up.

Moyes insists the performances against West Ham United and Saints, both of which ended in narrow 1-0 defeats, show an improvement in Sunderland’s play.

"For me, the performances were both better,” added Moyes.

"We didn’t look like conceding in the games, we did that much better and we have to do the same against Arsenal. It will be doubly as difficult because of their quality.

"I thought the players played well in both games, we were angry at the late decision at West Ham and angry about the decision at Southampton.

"I would expect that to change somewhere along the line, somewhere we need a decision to go for us, which might help us get up and running.

"The quicker the better. I’d love to say it was as simple as bad luck, it isn’t but we do need some luck.

"The harder you work, you earn more luck. We have to work harder and hope that luck somehow changes."