Sunderland v Tottenham Hotspur: live 12.36 Clive Allen recommends someone "get physical" to stop Gareth Bale making hay today. Olivia Newton-John concurs: 12.32 Steven Fletcher, Hotspur Slayer: 12.30 I can hear the strains of Tinie Tempah in my headphones, which can mean only one thing.......I've picked up my sister-in-law's iPod. No, I joke. It means Sky's coverage has begun. Clive Allen and Dwight Yorke join us. Eclectic. 12.27 Sky's coverage about to begin. Only a 15-minute build-up for this one. Given that the FA Cup final used to receive a whole day's build-up on some channels, do you think 15 minutes is disproportionately stingy? 12.22 A sober response from Stuart to my call to arms for mirth: Hi Nick maybe Gallas isn't in AVB's matchday squad because the Portuguese feels he isn't in his plans 12.19 Andros Townsend not involved today. Instead he is having several cold showers after tuning into the action at Ally Pally yesterday: 12.12 With William Gallas not in the matchday squad I would love your mails speculating on what he is doing instead... Feet up in front of Sky? Or is he being dragged around the Westfield sales? Mail me and I'll publish the best. 12.05 So, just the one change for Sunderland with John O'Shea replacing Danny Rose who cannot play against his parent club. Steven Caulker and Michael Dawson come in for Tottenham in place of Jan Vertonghen and William Gallas. 11.59 TEAM NEWS: The moment has arrived for you to feast your eyes on today's two starting XIs: Sunderland: Mignolet, Gardner, Kilgallon, O'Shea, Cuellar, Larsson, Colback, Johnson, McClean, Sessegnon, Fletcher. Subs: Campbell, Wickham, McFadden, Vaughan, Dong-won, Bramble, Westwood. Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Caulker, Dawson, Naughton, Lennon, Dembele, Sandro, Bale, Adebayor, Defoe. Subs: Friedel, Vertoghen, Huddestone, Livermore, Parker, Dempsey, Sigurdsson 11.52 Talking of AVB...When he is not busy perfecting the "I just woke up, and slung this suit and tie on" look he is a very astute manager. As these quotes about the importance of leaving the north-east with a result today prove: At the moment everyone is packed together, which is very dangerous. What we want to do is have a stronger second half to the season than last year. We have to continue our progress to hopefully open a gap between us and the rest of the teams that sit near the top. Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United will compete for the title between them. For the top four Everton are there, Liverpool will come back strongly definitely and there is always a surprise team - last year it was Newcastle, this year it is West Brom. What you want is to finally settle into the top four, opening up some kind of gap if possible. 11.50 A worrying trend for Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas to try and reverse: 11.45 Good news for fans of players with an above-average ability to control the ball at pace....Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has ordered his wingers Adam Johnson and James McLean to take the game to Spurs today: They can be a threat and this is the whole point. If we can get the ball out to Adam sometimes a wee bit more quickly than we do, then he can cause problems. 11.40 Let us come together and recall this majestic volley from Chelsea coach Bolo Zenden when Sunderland beat Tottenham 3-1 in this fixture three seasons ago: 11.35 Good afternoon and thanks for joining me for live coverage as Sunderland host on-form Tottenham at the Stadium of Light. This fixture is taking pride of place in Sky's Super Saturday lunchtime slot - and rightly so. This is a Premier League fixture with wide ramifications for the rest of the season. The Black Cats are hoping to leapfrog their mid-table rivals in the battle for a place in the top half, while Tottenham have their eye on a top-four finish. A win for Sunderland, who downed the Champions Man City on Boxing Day, would really help to put some daylight between them and the rest of the extended relegation contenders (a pack led by Fulham). Spurs, second in the Premier League form table, have an opportunity to overtake Chelsea and go into third place, following a run that has seen them win four of their last six games. The weather out there may be frightening, but there's no way this won't be exciting. Oh, and remember, no persistent standing please! After the victories over Southampton and Manchester City, spirits have been lifted on Wearside. Those wins have lifted Martin O'Neill's side to 13th place in the Premier League and they should face Spurs with renewed vigour. Tottenham, though, won 4-0 at Villa on Boxing Day when Gareth Bale was at his best with a hat-trick. Another inspirational performance by the Welshman may just ruin Sunderland's New Year celebrations. Betting: Home 13-5, Away 11-10, Draw 11-5. Stat of the game: Tottenham have 42 points, nine fewer than they had after 19 games under Harry Redknapp last season. Luke Edwards' prediction: Sunderland 1 Tottenham Hotspur 3