Sunderland's paradox – San Siro trip amid relegation battle

Sunderland were last season's surprise package in the Premier League, but this time they are struggling after Coventry handed them their sixth defeat. Sunderland have lost six of their nine Premier League games When Sunderland were handed a trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan in the Europa League, they must have been relishing the chance to rub shoulders with such heavyweights. Yet by the time they travel to Italy to take on the Serie A giants on 10 December, they may be more concerned about the Premier League match against Nottingham Forest that comes just three days later. That is because last season's surprise package following promotion are now one of this campaign's strugglers.

They may be mixing it with illustrious big guns in Europe, but they are staring down the barrel of a relegation fight on the domestic front. Their 3-1 defeat by Coventry City on Saturday has kept Sunderland rock bottom of the table after nine games. Before they head to Milan, they face a daunting league programme of Chelsea (home), Aston Villa (away), Tottenham (home), Liverpool (away) and local rivals Newcastle (away), with home European games against Croatia's Dinamo Zagreb and Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok thrown into the mix. If they fail to cause some upsets in that run and others towards the bottom of