Sunderland travel to Elland Road to face Leeds United in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland beat Luton and Leeds beat Watford. The Black Cats started well with Enzo Le Fée putting them ahead on the 13th minute. It was the perfect start and never looked back from that point against a poor Luton side. Wilson Isidor latched onto a defensive mistake and made it 2-0 in the second half. The hosts went close to adding another goal as Patrick Roberts rattled the post and Isidor glanced a header wide. Chris Rigg picked up a knock but should be available along with Alan Browne and Ian Poveda. Mundle is back training and Watson is due to return soon. New signing Jayden Danns remains unavailable, with Huggins & Alese on the injured list. Leeds maintained their promotion charge with an emphatic 4-0 victory against Watford at Vicarage Road to extend their lead at the top of the Championship table to five points. Two goals in 9 minutes for Dan James set the tone and Leeds wrapped up the points with goals from Soloman and Piroe. Regis le Bris: "Today we had good control and we were mature in that game. "That's very important as it was a new challenge against a team that can be dominant in the air with many set-pieces and direct plays, but we were dominant. "Then it was a question of disturbing their low block to create chances. In that situation, we needed an X-factor and it was important to have a player like Enzo today to make the difference." Press conference: Daniel Farke: "We started on the front foot with good chances but I have to say that Watford also had good situations in the first 10 minutes. They are a good side who are dangerous on the counter-attack so it was important for us to score the first goal. "I'm not sure the 4-0 reflects how difficult this game was because I really like how Tom [Cleverley] sets up his team. I think he is doing an excellent job here and it was difficult to take possession away from them. "I predict not many teams will leave here with three points so I am pretty happy with the win and the scoreline and clean sheet. "But we were really excellent in executing our counter-attacks and the fourth goal was poetry in motion. You would have to say the individual performance of the players up front was of a top level. "If we perform like this our offensive row is unplayable at times." Form: Match Appointments Referee: STUART ATTWELL Assistant referees: Simon Bennett & Daniel Robathan Fourth official: Tom Nield Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-3-3) Patterson, Cirkin, O’Nien, Ballard, Hume, Neil, Jobe, Rigg, Le Fée, Roberts, Isidor. Subs: Moore, Hjelde, Mepham, Samed, Aleksic, Poveda, Mayenda, Browne, Mundle. Injured: Huggins, Watson, Alese. Leeds United: (4-3-2-1) Meslier, Bogle, Rodon, Ampadu, Firpo, Tanaka, Gruev, James, Aaronson, Solomon, Piroe. Subs: Guilavogui, Byram, Darlow, Gnonto, Joseph, Ramazani, Rothwell, Schmidt, Struijk. Injured: Bamford Betting Odds: Sunderland 6/1 Leeds 3/2 Draw 41/10 Prutton Predicts: meh My two pence: A good professional performance against Luton, who to be fair were very poor. Leeds blew Watford away but I’m putting that down to how hard Watford worked for the point at our place. Leeds are the best team I’ve seen so far, so any points picked up against them will be a bonus. Let’s hope Meslier messes it up again. I’m going for a 2-2 draw. Live Stream: Live on Sky Sports Football https://www.safc.com/live Ha’way the Lads
Every season we pull out a totally unexpected 'wow' result ... ... this could be it as it's our last chance to beat a top team, after that they're all easy Ha'way the Lads!!!
Tough one for this game, whilst we tend to turn up at the big games Leeds are by far the best opponent we have faced this season. If both teams turn up we are in for a cracker of a match and I hope we are the team who turns out victorious. My heart says Sunderland but my head says a draw. All I ask is that the players show heart and spirit as they have done all season and let's see where it takes us FWIW I believe we have to start strong and resilient and try to contain and then attack when the opportunity arises as this is probably the best way to pick off Leeds. But think RLB may see this as attack is best form of defence kind if game. Guess we will have to wait and see.
toughest game of season we really cant afford a bad start expect they try come out flying hopefully we make the step up
This match will be a good barometer of where we're at in our development. Pressure cooker atmosphere, the lads will need all their skills and all their intelligence!
@RTB - Thanks again. As for the game I have a funny feeling about this. I'm going for a 1-2 win for the lads (Isidor & Roberts).
Toughest game of the season this, anything is a bonus tbh. We’ve started to ship goals last 4 or 5 games so a clean sheet would be nice need to sort out defensive record out if we’re to go up automatically. I’ll go for an optimistic 1-1.
I say before every game that there's no easy games in this league and this certainly fits that criteria by a mile. Could be two counter attacking teams on show so lets see who comes out on top and there's no reason it couldn't be us. I'm sure RLB will have a plan and if the lads stick to it then the after match scenes could be epic. Great thread RTB, HTL.
It's all about team selection in this one in terms of how effective we can be, for me. Mepham and Ballard at the back, Le Fee in the middle, Mayenda and Roberts in support of Wilson. Haway the fkn lads.
Heart says 2-1 to the lads, head says 3-1 Leeds. Let's see. Either way, I'm sure it will be a cracking game.
Great thread @RTB, games coming thick and fast yet no letup in timeliness and quality of your MDT. Thanks mate. Really enjoy reading them. To the game itself, we can’t afford a slow start. We need to be at it right from the off. I’d leave Rigg out and play Mayenda alongside Wilson from the start. It will be interesting to see our bench, Browne and Abdullahi possibly, probably a week too early for Mundle. Heart says 2-1 to the Lads and if we don’t get sloppy in clearing our lines we could nick it. Got to be at it throughout otherwise these have got the quality to turn us over.
Cracking thread as always @RTB Tough game, but we have several options and RLB will have the lads well prepared and ready for Leeds. We can beat these, they might be playing well but on our day we can beat anyone in the league, with our attacking threat, pace up front and will to win Leeds will be just as concerned
Firstly I think this will be a classic. If Dirty Leeds win, I’d say they’ll think they are home & hosed for the Top2. I’ve more than a feeling we can win this to lay down our own marker. So it’s 2-3 for me with Mayenda coming off the bench to smash in the winner. Bart
It's almost a free hit - I think the play offs are 99% likely, but there is always a chance when there are so many points to play for. Part of me expects defeat, but we always play better against sides who come out and play football. Leeds will be on the front foot and we can play on the counter. If we withstand the early pressure that they will apply, then we can absolutely come out of this game with something. 1-1
