Sunderland 1 Swansea 3: Highlights after Liam Cullen and Ollie Cooper goals plus Luke O'Nien red card

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sunderland’s Championship fixture against Swansea CIty at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats are in good form after taking eight points from their last four games, yet they were beaten 2-1 by The Swans back in October.

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.

We’re 14 days in and it’s been a quiet transfer window for Sunderland so far.

Jay Matete has joined Plymouth on loan and other fringe players could also be allowed to leave on temporary deals if the Black Cats feel there is sufficient cover in their squad.

Ellis Simms’ return to Everton means Sunderland are now looking to sign two new strikers this month, while it remains a possibility that Simms could return at the end of the month - depending on Everton’s situation.

The Black Cats are also trying to sign a young striker on a permanent deal.

Sunderland’s recruitment team held a meeting on Thursday with Tony Mowbray saying that the situation was ‘developing’ in terms of potential signings.

Sunderland are also looking to straighten in central midfield to provide more cover for captain Corry Evans.

So what about injuries?

Well there is some positive news after defender Danny Batth returned to training this week following a calf issue meaning he will be available to face Swansea.

Lynden Gooch was back on the bench at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup last weekend and could be in contention to start.

Captain Corry Evans is also expected to return after missing last weekend’s match.

Aji Alese, Dennis Cirkin and Alex Pritchard all remain sidelined while Elliot Embleton is still recovering from a long-term setback.

Niall Huggins has returned to training but today’s match will probably come too soon for the full-back.

Here’s what Mowbray had to say about Swansea after Russell Martin’s side won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in October.

“I’ve been studying this week, they are number one in our 24-team league for ball possession and something like number two for shots on goal,” said Mowbray.

“They are a very, very good football team and I think we felt it down there in the first half until we got things sorted. We played with a centre-forward that day and their centre-half Harry Darling just kept waltzing through the middle of the pitch. Until we got that sorted we were in a lot of trouble because they are a very good team

“We have to be wary of them - it’s a difficult game because the conundrum for us is, this is the team that has the ball the most in our league and yet we are home and we want to engage our fans. They don’t want to come and see Swansea pass the ball around seven or eight hundred times, we need to get after the game and make them know they’re in a football match. We have to press, make tackles and when we get the ball we have to make sure we’re good with it.

“It’s a challenge we’re looking forward to. We know there’ll be times in the game where we have to suffer but as long as we know that and take our chances when they come, we can look forward to it. We’ll certainly look to go and attack.”

Swansea have slipped to 15th in the Championship table, winning just one of their last five league games since the World Cup break.

Still, they are just three points behind Sunderland and four points off the play-off places with just under half of the season remaining.

To find out more we caught up with Steven Carroll from the Swansea Oh Swansea fanzine to ask about how Sunderland’s next opponents are shaping up.

Here’s what he said when asked about the side’s recent form:

“Hit and miss, a bit like the whole season. Wins over Watford and even though we lost to Burnley we played well but at Reading we were awful. That Watford win is our only one in eleven so we need to change that.

“We don’t tend to change our style, so we’ll look to dominate possession but probably won’t create a huge amount of chances in spite of that. We’re not the type of side that plays for a point though so it could be open.”

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Here’s what Swansea boss Martin had to say ahead of today’s match:

“There’s very little between us and them in terms of points. I really like them as a team, they’re young, vibrant and energetic and have a manager with so much experience at this level.”

“They pose a lot of threat, it’s a brilliant place to play. I really enjoyed playing there myself as a player. It’s one we’re really looking forward to and one I think we’re really well prepared for.”

Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match:

Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Hume, Batth, Ballard, O’Nien, Evans, Neil, Roberts, Amad, Clarke, Stewart

Predicted Swansea XI: Benda, Latibeaudiere, Darling, Cabango, Manning, Allen, Fulton, Grimes, Cooper, Cullen, Piroe

“Looking back at our festive fixtures, I was pleased with the players’ performances – to pick up seven points from Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool and be slightly disappointed shows how far we’ve come as a team.

“The players are a huge credit to the football club and we’re on a journey after coming from League One into this division – we’re adapting well to the Championship.

“We had an FA Cup fixture last week and although we left it late, I think we more than deserved to go through.

“It took us a while to get a grip on the game, but we found our shape and got our passing going, and started to push them back.

“We found a way in the end and that’s the main thing, and now we have a trip to Premier League side Fulham to look forward to in the next round.

“We know today’s game against Swansea will be a tough one, they’re a really talented team.

“Although they are on a disappointing run of results for themselves, they’ve dominated most matches – we know how dangerous they can be.

“We’ve had a good week’s training and hopefully we can send the supporters home with three points.”