It would be fair to say that neither Tottenham Hotspur nor Sunderland are having the type of season that they had hoped for back in August.
Despite the £100m sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Spurs made a host of additions that they believed would help to push them towards Champions League qualification while, having only just survived last year, Sunderland were keen on a more settled campaign.
Ahead of their meeting at White Hart Lane on Monday evening, neither team's ambitions have been realised.
Hosting Spurs, who are sixth and some eight points off North London rivals Arsenal in fourth, have lost four of their last six outings in the Premier League.
Manager Tim Sherwood will be without a host of senior players, including Roberto Soldado, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker, Erik Lamela and Etienne Capoue, because of injury, but striker Emmanuel Adebayor is back in contention following a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring complaint.
As for Sherwood's opposite number, Gus Poyet, he has no fresh injury concerns for the trip, with only centre-forward Steven Fletcher ruled out because of an Achilles problem.
In terms of the starting lineup, Poyet may revert back to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation, having operated with a 3-5-2 strategy in recent outings. If that is proven to be the case, Adam Johnson is likely to be recalled on the wing at the expense of Argentine defender Santiago Vergini.
The Wearsiders last won at White Hart Lane back in August 2008 thanks to goals from Kieran Richardson and Djibril Cisse in a 2-1 victory. Prior to that, Sunderland had not overcome Spurs in the capital since 1984.
Recent form
Spurs: LWLLWL
Sunderland: LLDLLL
Possible starting lineups
Spurs: Lloris; Naughton, Kaboul, Dwason, Rose; Bentaleb, Paulinho, Lennon, Chadli, Eriksen; Adebayor
Sunderland: Mannone; Alonso, Brown, O'Shea, Bardsley; Johnson, Ki, Bridcutt, Colback; Borini, Wickham
Sports Mole says: 2-0
Liam Apicella
