Sunderland’s desperate need for points could inspire them to another positive result when they face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday lunchtime.
The Black Cats are still odds-on favourites to join QPR and Burnley in being relegated from the Premier League, but they gave themselves a chance of staying up with a vital 2-1 win at home to Southampton last weekend.
Jordi Gomez’s two penalties that earned three points really were critical as three of the teams immediately above Sunderland – Aston Villa, Leicester and West Brom – all won, and losing ground to them would have made life extremely difficult.
And perhaps the biggest thing of all is the way Newcastle are freefalling down the table, with the prospect of overtaking their arch-rivals and sending them into the Championship perhaps the greatest incentive the Mackems could possibly wish for.
If they were to win at Everton again, as they did 1-0 under their former manager Gus Poyet on Boxing Day last season, it would have to be marked down as being as big a surprise as it was on that occasion.
Seb Larsson in action for Sunderland (Getty Images)
Not because the Toffees are enjoying a terrific campaign as they were then, for frankly Everton have been disappointing this term; but because their recent home form has been excellent, considerably improved, with four consecutive wins to nil including a 3-0 drubbing of Manchester United last time out on their own pitch.
A repeat of that performance from Roberto Martinez’s side and Sunderland would have pretty much no chance of gaining even a point to aid their battle against the drop.
But interim manager Dick Advocaat may well be encouraged that Everton were beaten more convincingly than the scoreline suggests when they went down 3-2 at Aston Villa last Saturday, trailing 2-0 and 3-1 and only reducing their arrears to a one-goal defeat when Phil Jagielka struck three minutes into stoppage time.
Martinez admitted the performance was exactly what he feared after such a momentous result against United and, with nothing other than pride to play for, it’s perhaps understandable that Everton are struggling to get ‘up’ for certain games.
It may well be a different story now they are back at Goodison but there will definitely be plenty of belief about Sunderland who have, spurring them on, the opportunity to get even closer to a Newcastle side who simply cannot buy a result.
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