Sunderland travel to Norwich in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland beat West Brom and Norwich lost at Plymouth. Sunderland beat West Brom with an excellent strike from full back Trai Hume. The Black Cats started well and had some good early possession and looked dangerous on the counterattack. Their ninth away league win of the season was based on a masterful defensive display, epitomised by Mepham, who made several superb blocks and tackles, including the vital goal line clearance to deny Furlong. Luke O'Nien was equally influential, while Hume's quality also showed at the other end, his powerful free-kick flying past a bemused Wildsmith for the game's telling moment. Romaine Mundle suffered another hamstring injury and could be out for another few weeks. Norwich suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to bottom club Plymouth Argyle. Ryan Hardie gave the hosts the lead against the run of play. The Scot doubled the lead three minutes later as he curled in from 10 yards after a loose ball fell to him in the box. Josh Sargent needed just 44 seconds of the second half to pull a goal back as he blasted past Conor Hazard. Hardie should have completed his hat-trick, but he just failed to connect with an 86th-minute Mustapha Bundu cross from the left. But the Canaries could not find an equaliser as they drop to 11th place, eight points off the final play-off spots. Regis le Bris: "We were really well connected and won many duels and our team spirit was impressive again. "They put many bodies in the box and they tried different options to create situations but we defended well. "Until the end we were on the edge but the mentality of the team is getting better – you can feel it now. "Probably three or four months ago we would have lost that game and we've lost many points in these circumstances, so this was positive." Press conference: Johannes Hoff Thorup: "It sums up our weakness as a team - and that's to defend all those situations where the ball is brought into the box from the opposition, second ball situations, third ball situations we really, really struggle as a team to defend that. "It tells a bit of a story because up until the first goal we have the control of the game exactly as we want, we created an amount of situations in the box and had a couple of crosses where were very close to getting a foot or head to it. "Then it's probably the first situation around our goal and they score a goal, and that's been the story of the season. "I'm tired that our defensive line cannot keep troubles away." Form: Match Appointments Referee: JEREMY SIMPSON Assistant referees: Robert Hyde & Ian Cooper Fourth official: Leigh Doughty Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-2-3-1) Patterson, Hume, O’Nien, Mepham, Browne, Neil, Jobe, Le Fée, Roberts, Mayenda. Isidor. Subs: Moore, Johnson, Seelt, Hjelde, Rigg, Jones, Aleksic, Middlemas, Watson. Injured: Huggins, Alese, Danns, Ballard, Poveda, Samed, Abdullahi, Cirkin, Mundle. Norwich City: (4-4-2) Gunn, Stacey, Duffy, Cordoba, Fisher, Nunez, McLean, Crnac, Marcondes, Sainz, Sargent. Subs: Bridge, Slimane, Forson, Hernandez, Long, Sorensen, McConville, Schwartau, Wright. Injured: Mair, Gibbs, Forsyth. Betting Odds: Sunderland 13/8 Norwich 6/4 Draw 12/5 My two pence: Another good result while two of the top 3 dropped points, I’m hoping we can carry on with our new found momentum and put more pressure on the leaders. Hopefully Mundle’s injury isn’t as serious as the last one and he has a chance to feature before the end of the season. No doubt that Borja Sainz will be falling over and feigning injury at every opportunity – just like last time. Norwich have two of the League’s top scorers but their own manager admits that they can’t defend, I’m going for another 1-0 away win. Live Stream: Live on Sky Sports+ https://www.safc.com/live Ha’way the Lads
Absolutely gutted I can't get to this and think we'll win again ... ... my tickets are spare if anyone needs any. Come on Sunderland, really go for it and stick it to cheating Norwich.
Expect this one to follow a similar pattern to Saturday. Norwich will look to dominate the ball and we'll look to sit in and break quickly. Patterson Hume Mepham O'Nien Hjelde Rigg Neil Jobe Roberts Isidor Mayenda I'll guess 1-1 like I did for Saturday. Isidor to score.
Saw this OTR and loved it. Shows how good Isidor is Yes he’s in a bad run of form, everyone has them, every one of our players has had them this season as has everyone in the league he’s a great centre forward and I think we have to play him. Le fee will bring out the best in him again imo
Strange side Norwich some excellent players but they’re so inconsistent, take a draw after the last 2 results but a game we can absolutely win too
Might see some changes with the game so sooner after the WBA one. Score draw for me. Need to get a couple of our out of form players firing for me. Wilson being one. He is a good player but seems to have a while off form.
After Sainz carry at at our place I feel Norwich will be really up for this one seeking some sort of revenge for his 6 game ban, hope he looses his head again. Keep Sergeant quiet and we can bring home the points, momentum is building so lets go again. HTL.
Thanks for another quality thread, RTB. It looks like a fascinating match up between both sides' strengths and weaknesses. If we're on it, we could cause Norwich a ton of problems.
I'd certainly be rotating for this one: Patterson Browne Mepham O'Nien Hjelde Jobe Neil Roberts Rigg Aleksic Mayenda Subs: Moore, Hume, Anderson, Bainbridge, Jones, Middlemas, Isidor, Le Fee, Watson
Didn't they just fail to score, in 90 minutes, at home to West Brom ... ... they had half the shots and corners iirc. And they've only won 1 of their last 6 games, not in great form tbh.
And we don’t concede many away, just over a goal a game with one of the better away records in the league
More than Stoke, Derby and Hull ... ... in fact only 3 teams, outside the drop zone, have conceded more. It'll be a very tough game, for Norwich.
Great thread as ever RTB, and i agree with your 1-0 to the lads prediction. Hhhaaa'wwwwaaaaayyyyyy the lads
Yeah, if it's the same injury then it's definitely season over, we just have to hope it's not as bad a tear this time around. The smart money is that he's done though
