Sunderland 0 Leicester City 1: Highlights after Jamie Vardy goal and Luke O'Nien yellow card
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Sunderland were beaten 1-0 by Championship leaders Leicester at the Stadium of Light – but how did each player fare for the Black Cats?
Jamie Vardy scored the game’s only goal in the 13th minute, after Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson had kept out Wout Faes’ header. After a shaky start, Mike Dodds’ side finished on the front foot but couldn’t force an equaliser.
Here's how the game played out:
Sunderland vs Leicester
RECAP: Sunderland 0 Leicester 1 (Vardy, 13)
Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Seelt, Hjelde, Neil, Ekwah (Aouchiche, 59), Rigg (Styles, 82), Bellingham, (Rusyn, 82), Hemir (Mundle, 59)
Subs: Bishop, Pembele, Styles, Mundle, Ba, Aouciche, Rusyn, Kelly, Burstow
Leicester XI: Hermansen, Choudhury, Coady, Faes, Doyle, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall, Fatawu (Justin, 86), Akgun, Mavididi, Vardy
Subs: Stolarczyk, Justin, Albrighton, Souttar, Ndidi, Marcal, Nelson, Iheanacho, Daka
It's Matchday!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sunderland's Championship match against Leicester City at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats will be looking to bounce back following four consecutive defeats which have left them nine points off the play-off places.
We'll have all the build-up ahead of the match, as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction.
Stick around and refresh the page for live updates throughout the evening.
Team news
We'll start with the Sunderland team news.
Dan Ballard (below) is available again after serving a two-match suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards.
Corry Evans and Bradley Dack aren't yet ready to return to action but are set to step up their recoveries over the next week by playing for the under-21s side. Aji Alese has also taken part in some bit-part-training as he nears a first-team return.
Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke remain sidelined, along with Dennis Cirkin, Niall Huggins and Elliot Embleton.
Dodds on Leicester
Here's what Sunderland interim boss Mike Dodds had to say about Leicester:
“They are top of the league and they're probably the best team in the league or one of the best teams.
“They are really clear in terms of the way they want to play and how they want to play. I don't see them changing for us and I don't see them changing for anyone in the league.
“The coach is very thorough and very forthright in the way he wants to play, and they are top of the league for a reason.”
How Leicester are shaping up
Leicester remain top of the Championship but were beaten 2-1 by QPR on Saturday, their third consecutive defeat.
The Foxes will be without full-back Ricardo Pereira as well as midfielders Dennis Praet and Wilfred Ndidi due to injuries, while centre-back Jannik Vestergaard (below) is suspended for receiving 10 yellow cards this season.
Maresca on recent results
Here's what Leicester boss Enzo Maresca had to say after his side's 2-1 defeat against QPR on Saturday.
“When you drop points it’s always a bad feeling, especially in this moment when if you win points, you see yourself getting closer to the target. It’s a matter of balance.
“It is what it is. Probably in the last three games we can be a little bit more lucky for the amount of shots and amount of chances we’ve had, but we need to just deal with that and try to win games very soon.
“They did everything, they did an incredible effort. They created many chances and shot many times. This is a moment where we struggle to score goals, but hopefully we can win games again soon.”
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for tonight's match:
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Hjelde, Neil, Ekwah, Ba, Rigg, Styles, Rusyn
Predicted Leicester XI: Hermansen, Choudhury, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall, Fatawu, Akgun, Mavididi, Daka
What to make of those sides
So it's two changes following Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Norwich.
Dan Ballard comes back into the side following his two-match suspension, while Chris Rigg is handed his first Championship start.
It looks like Sunderland will go back to a back three as Romaine Mundle and Callum Styles drop to the bench.
Leicester have made four changes following their 2-1 defeat against QPR last weekend, with Conor Coady, Callum Doyle, Yunus Akgun and Jamie Vardy come into the side.
2' How Sunderland have started
It looks like Sunderland have started with a back five with Hume and Hjelde as the wing-backs.
The hosts appear to be deploying a man-to-man marking system out of possession, with O'Nien and Seelt stepping out of the backline to follow Dewsbury-Hall and Akgun.
8' Important touch from Ballard
Leicester almost opened the scoring there after Mavididi broke down the left.
The winger then cut the ball back across goal, with Ballard getting an important touch to knock the cross away from goal.
10' Two big saves from Patterson
Patterson keeps Sunderland level.
Mavididi broke down the left again before cutting the ball back.
Vardy's effort from close range was saved by Patterson, before the Sunderland keeper kept out Agun's follow-up shot.
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