What's the perfect night for Sunderland (apart from beating Man City)?

Since Sunderland’s last outing, a week last Saturday, City have played twice.

They won through to the Capital One Cup final by seeing off Everton and then on Saturday progressed in the FA Cup after feeble resistance from Aston Villa.

Does that give Sunderland a little more of a chance in tonight’s clash with the Premier League title favourites?

Will news of Manuel Pellegrini’s departure at the end of the season have taken away any focus tonight?

Every little advantage helps, but once again Sunderland will be looking elsewhere for a helping hand in the battle against relegation - they do not want to be cut adrift.

So what other results would we like to see tonight and tomorrow?

We could do with a win for old friend Alan Pardew, whose Crystal Palace side hose Bournemouth tonight.

The Cherries were the better side at the Stadium of Light but were restricted to just the one point.

Tonight they visit Selhurst Park. A win for Palace will be a big help.

Norwich looked on for the points in their last outing when they led Liverpool 3-1 at Carrow Road. Of course it ended 5-4 to the visitors, hopefully stretching their fans’ nerves to breaking point.

Tonight they take on high-flying Spurs and Kane, Eriksen et Alli will be looking to seal another victory to press their title credentials. They should have too much for Delia’s favourites.

West Brom take on Swansea in a key match between two teams who’ll be getting neck-ache from looking over their shoulders all the time.

The Swans’ win at Everton just over a week ago was bad news for Sunderland. Maybe a draw in this one would be the ideal result.

West Ham v Aston Villa is easy to read. We need the Hammers’ quality to shine through and Villa to be sent back to square one after a mini-mini-rivival in the league.

The other three games tonight have no effect on the relegation battle.

Arsenal will be looking for revenge for their heavy defeat at Southampton recently when the teams meet again at the Emirates.

Man Utd v Stoke is unlikely to get many hearts racing, but Leicester v Liverpool could be a cracker.

Only one of tomorrow’s games has much bearing on the relegation fight, as Watford v Chelsea is a match between two teams who surely won’t be in any trouble.

Let’s hope Everton find some much-needed form and put on a dominant display on Merseyside. They host Newcastle. Come on you Toffees!