Sunderland lost away to Burnley last weekend before beating Brimingham in the Carling Cup and the Black Cats need to win this game in order to remain in the top part of the table. Wolves were eliminated from the Carling Cup after losing to Manchester United but will not be too downhearted by the result, especially since they had beaten Fulham last weekend.

The teams enter this Carling Cup game in different mood as Sunderland are looking to make amends for the Burnley defeat at the weekend, whereas Birmingham players are in good spirits following the away win over Hull City. Both managers are likely to ring some changes for this game.

Burnley cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves after the heavy defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool and they have to try and continue the excellent home run. Sunderland, on the other hand, returned to winning ways by beating Hull last weekend and the Black Cats now want to remain in the top part of the table.

Sunderland aim to return to winning ways after the defeat at Stoke and the game against Hull is a good opportunity for that. The Tigers have recovered from the poor start, taking four points from the last two games but they still face a difficult task at the Stadium of Light.

Stoke picked up their first point on the ravels this season having held Birmingham to a goalless draw and they will now try to keep up the good home form. Sunderland were very lucky to beat Blackburn and will have to do much better if they want to get anything from this match.

Sunderland had a promising start to the season despite the home defeat to Chelsea and they are starting to prove that a top 10 finish is a realistic possibility. As expected, things are not going well for Rovers this season and they will struggle to match the motivated hosts at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland fans are hoping the opening win over Bolton was the sign of things to come and now the Black Cats are expected to put up a real fight against Chelsea. The Blues largely struggled against Hull at Stamford Bridge but eventually managed to win the game and are now hoping to extend the good run of results.

Bolton did a lot better than Sunderland last season but things are set to change. The Trotters have made some defensive signings but they are still expected to fight for survival, unlike Sunderland that look destined for top table finish.

Sunderland enter the final round two points clear of the relegation zone but they need to beat Chelsea in order to be sure of survival. Chelsea have got absolutely nothing to play for at the Stadium of Light but they will definitely try to beat Sunderland.

West Ham continued the impressive run of results, having taken a point from Blackburn and they are the favourites in this match. Sunderland stayed very close to the relegation zone as they lost the last two league games and they will try to take at least one point from Upton Park.