Bang. No love lost between Seb Larsson and Wilfried Zaha apparently. The Swede absolutely clatters him as Zaha looked to burst free down the right and is duly shown an early yellow card.

Image source, Getty Images

Palace coming forward now, Lamine Kone conceding a corner. Cabaye lofts in the delivery but Scott Dann can't keep his header down and it's an easy one for Vito Mannone to catch.

Nothing much happening early on so they've shown a couple of replays of Big Sam shaking his thang...what a time to be alive.

Crunch. Nasty blow to the head for Yohan Cabaye early on but he's OK to carry on.

The teams are out, handshakes all done and here strides Big Sam.

Oh my word, he's had a brief boogie with Alice the Eagle. Think dad dancing.

Second later - we're underway...

Image source, Reuters

The teams are in the tunnel and about to emerge - we're about five minutes from kick-off at Selhurst Park...

That's cue for Alice the Eagle to throw some shapes apparently.

I guess that is the type of mascot behaviour Big Sam can get behind - no Wilfried Zaha-baiting.

Sunderland manager David Moyes on striker Jermain Defoe: "We have got to get him opportunities to score, and that's probably been something in recent weeks we have not done.

"We have not had enough opportunities. We miss Victor [Anichebe] for that as well because Victor brings other parts to the game and gets us a bit higher up the pitch at different times.

"But we have to keep getting Jermain those opportunities to score."

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce: "I just need the players to handle the pressure, because it is massive pressure on us.

"We will be - particularly from our fans - expected to win. We had that sort of expectation against Swansea just a few weeks ago. There were different circumstances why we lost that game then, but it is the same pressure we have to deal with and produce a performance.

"For the players it's making sure they focus like they did on Tuesday night, with the level of performance they gave.

"Hopefully that'd be enough to win. I would hate to see the type of performance we gave against Swansea."

Trevor Sinclair
Ex-Man City & West Ham winger

It's a lot easier to play away from home when you're down there in a relegation battle.

When you're playing at home the expectation from the fans really weighs down on you.

Big Sam will be hoping their win midweek lifts the mood and lets the players perform under a little less pressure.

There's quite a big football game this weekend on the other side of the pond in the American version of the game.

But how would a former NFL star get on with the FA People's Cup keepy-uppy challenge?

Entries to the 2017 FA People's Cup are now open (but there's not that long left) and you can find out how to get involved here.

The Sunderland fan in the office has just informed me that Jermain Defoe is the only member of their starting XI to have scored this season.

Patrick van Aanholt chipped in with a few of course - but he's playing for the other team now.

Tricky times for the Black Cats.

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Mark Scott
Match of the Day commentator

This is a real bona fide six-pointer - with a couple of tasty sub-plots thrown in for good measure.

As with Palace now, Sam Allardyce also found Sunderland in the relegation zone on 19 points from 23 games last season.

He pointed to his January signings as the catalyst behind getting them out of trouble and he's expecting a big impact from his new recruits this time around too.

Patrick van Aanholt's reunion with Allardyce gave David Moyes the funds to bring in some more of his Everton old boys, but the failure to sign a striker could prove costly.

Jermain Defoe, Van Aanholt and long-term injury absentee Victor Anichebe have scored all but two of Sunderland's Premier League goals this season.

There's a reunion theme to this one - Sam Allardyce takes on his former side and hands Patrick van Aanholt his home debut against the club he left in the January transfer window.

Palace are unchanged from the side who beat Bournemouth 2-0 last time out, but on-loan defender Mamadou Sakho comes onto the bench.

Crystal Palace XI: Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Tomkins, Delaney, Van Aanholt, Cabaye, McArthur, Puncheon, Zaha, Benteke.

Subs: Speroni, Fryers, Sakho, Ledley, Flamini, Townsend, Remy.

David Moyes makes two changes to the side who held Spurs 0-0 in the week, with a debut for Bryan Oviedo and Adnan Januzaj also coming in for Javier Manquillo and Fabio Borini respectively.

Jack Rodwell starts his 38th Premier League game for Sunderland - will he go the equivalent of a full season without winning?

Sunderland XI: Mannone, Jones, Oviedo, O'Shea, Kone, Denayer, Ndong, Larsson, Rodwell, Januzaj, Defoe. 

Subs: Mika, Borini, Lescott, Pienaar, Khazri, Manquillo, Gibson.

That's what current Crystal Palace (and former Sunderland) boss Sam Allardyce has billed this one.

And with Sunderland bottom, Palace only three points ahead of them in 18th, it's hard not to agree that this ticks all the boxes of a good ol' six-pointer.

Is this the season Big Sam finally fails to keep a team up?

Is this the season Sunderland finally fail to beat the drop?

The result of this game could go a long way to answering both those questions.

But first the teams...