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Sunderland and West Ham missing key men this weekend

Both Sunderland and West Ham will be missing key men when the sides meet at the London&...



Sunderland and West Ham missin...
Soccer

Sunderland and West Ham missing key men this weekend

Both Sunderland and West Ham will be missing key men when the sides meet at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Sunderland will be without Sebastian Larsson for their next three games - after losing an appeal against his sending off against Manchester United.

The Sweden midfielder received a red card for a challenge on Ander Herrera in the first half of a 3-0 defeat for the Premier League's bottom team.

He'll also miss matches against Middlesbrough and Bournemouth.

Meanwhile, West Ham boss Slaven Bilic says Michail Antonio won't play again this season because of a hamstring injury.

The winger was called up by England last month before withdrawing from matches against Germany and Lithuania with the problem.

He returned to face Arsenal and Swansea in the Premier League, but didn't make it past half-time in either of those games.

Speaking today, Bilic also batted away talk that his job is under threat from Fulham's Slavisa Jokanovic.

The Hammers hierarchy have repeatedly denied wanting to replace him at the end of the season.

He says the first he heard of the latest story was while walking to this morning's news conference.

"I'm not bothered," he said. "It's the same as last week and last year. I'm doing my job.

"I don't talk to [the owners] about every name that appears in the papers."

West Ham faced scrutiny having lost five of their last six games, but their 1-0 win against Swansea last weekend eased some of the pressure on the London club.

Sunderland, meanwhile, have taken their run of games without a without either a point or a goal to seven. No team in their position has ever survived the drop.

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic celebrates his side's victory over Swansea at the London Stadium. Image: John Walton/PA Wire/PA Images

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