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Sunderland travel to South Wales to face Cardiff City in the Championship.
Last time out Sunderland drew with Marseille and Cardiff beat Bristol Rovers.
Sunderland kick-off the new season with a new head coach and 4 new signings, Simon Moore, Alan Browne, Ian Poveda and Blondy Nna Noukeu.
Regis le Bris is expected to name a team very similar to the last outing against Marseille. Ekwah could be on the bench but Ian Poveda is likely to miss out.
Cardiff have signed Calum Chambers, Chris Willock, Anwar El Ghazi and Wilfried Kanga this summer, and are also close to signing Manchester City midfielder Alex Robertson.
Cardiff are likely to be without El Ghazi, who is back in the Netherlands to witness the birth of his child
Regis le Bris:
Asked whether he expects a striker to arrive before next week's opener at Cardiff, Le Bris said:
"I don't know. It's possible but I explained before, I work with this team. The work from recruitment is there but I will work with these players and I think they've improved this summer so we'll keep going.
"The coach always wants a better team. I think our job is to be focused on the pitch with the players we have in the dressing room and not other ones."
On the striker search:
"We are working on it, it's a process and the transfer window is complex. I spoke to a friend from Marseille, they are searching for a striker, it's the same for everyone."
"He's (Mayenda) a very young player. Now he has a free position so he can play with the team and experience many situations, so it's good for him.
"I'm not sure he's able to fulfill this position for a whole season with our team and ambitions, it might be too much for him. But every experience will be useful for him and he can have an impact."
Presser:
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Erol Bulut:
"We've had a great six weeks with the team. The level of games that we played, good results, and we also played well, which is really positive. I'm happy, also, with the youngsters we took with us. They did a great job, so the future looks good.”
"But still, we cannot stop the work. We have to work a lot, because pre-season is something else, friendly games are something else. Next week the league is starting - for this we have to be 100% ready.
"Today was a good tempo and a good result. We had chances, we scored two goals outside of the box, we didn't concede a goal. These are positive things, but the first Championship game is something else.”
"We play at home in front of our fans. I'm hoping the stadium will be full to support us, because we need them. This is the 12th power for us, and I hope we can deliver good football and start with three points."
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Match Appointments:
Referee: ANDY DAVIES
Assistant Referees: Graham Kane & Carl Fitch-Jackson
Fourth Official: Stephen Martin
Team Lineups:
Sunderland AFC: (4-3-3) Patterson, Cirkin, Alese, O'Nien, Hume, Neil, Browne, Clarke, Jobe, Roberts, Mayenda.
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Subs: Moore, Anderson, Johnson, Ekwah, Rigg, Auchiche, Mundle, Rusyn, Ba.
Injured: Ballard, Huggins, Triantis, Seelt.
Cardiff City (3-4-2-1) Horvath, Ng, Chambers, Goutas, O’Dowda, Siopis, Ralls, Ramsey, Tanner, Willock, Méïté
Subs: Alnwick, Dennis, Bagan, Gbadehan, Giles, King, Colwill, Conte, Ashford, Davies.
Injured: Davies, Etete, Collins
Betting Odds:
Sunderland 29/20 Cardiff City 15/8 Draw 21/10
Prutton Predicts: meh
My two pence:
At last the proper footy is back
Cardiff are a decent side and we need to avoid giving Ralls and Ramsey any opportunity to shoot from distance. Hopefully we can repeat the result from earlier this year.
I’m going for a 2-1 away win
Live Stream:
https://www.safc.com/live
Ha’way the Lads
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