SAFC v Tottenham Hotspur Guess the Score: double prize if Sunderland win

Monsieur Salut is off to the Far East on a fact-finding tour holiday but puts off preparations to explain how one esteemed reader of this site can win not one mug, but two in this week’s competition …

Each matchday is preceded by a Guess the Score competition. And each week, most of Salut! Sunderland‘s loyal readers operate on the principle of blind faith and predict a win or a draw for the team they support.

I’d be the same at a fan site. But when ESPN FC invites me to say how the games will go, I allow realism to take over. I don’t always get it any more right than the optimists here. So I said we’d lose 2-0 at Bournemouth and 2-0 at West Brom and, thank heavens, one of those was hopelessly wrong.

So feel free to put all your blind faith and none of my realism into your guesswork for Tuesday’s ominous home game against Spurs.

I’ve gone 3-1 to them but, if I qualified for a Salut! Sunderland entry, I’d try to be more upbeat and plump at least for a draw.

But all these predictions are stabs in the dark. As I write, we can have no idea of the composition of David Moyes’s defence – Papy is denying his violent conduct charge after the WBA game and would miss it plus three more matches if the FA rejects his plea of innocence. Will Kone be back? Is Lescott even ready?

I suppose I just hope my prediction at ESPN is way off the mark, but in our favour. So I say 2-2, with Jermain and others on fire up front to mitigate the gaps at the back.

Now you have your say … I am sorry to be so early with the competition but have lots to sort out before I head off east and will keep the post at the top of the home page to make life easier for those who come via that route.

How to win? Easy – be the first to predict a Sunderland winning scoreline and you will be sent two mugs provided you have a UK delivery address. Any other kind of winner, including a Spurs fans (opposing supporters are always invited to take part) would get one mug. Something like this, the design naturally altered to reflect the winner’s allegiance …

Please bear in mind that this game will be played after I leave on holiday. I shall not be back until we have beaten Spurs, Palace and Southampton (not a bad holiday dream/fantasy). SO no prize can be ordered before the middle of next month.

Ha’way the Lads.