Sunderland face Sevilla in the first of their two pre-season games at the Estádio Algarve in Portugal. Last time out Sunderland beat South Shields and Sevilla lost against Birmingham. The Black Cats kicked off their summer campaign with a 4-0 win over South Shields on Saturday, with Romaine Mundle finding the net after linking up with new signing Habib Diarra. Now into week two, the Lads turn their focus to a fitness-driven training camp in the sun, which concludes with friendlies against La Liga side Sevilla and Portuguese outfit Sporting CP. Sevilla sacked their manager Garcia Pimienta after their defeat to fellow strugglers Valencia towards the end of last season and managed to avoid relegation by a single point. Los Palanganas have signed Chilean international Gabriel Suazo from Toulouse and Alion Gonzalez from Celta Vigo. Former Black Cat loanee, Adnan Januzaj could feature. Keshi Anderson, Christoph Klarer and Marc Leonard scored for Birmingham City in their 3-1 preseason win over Sevilla in Portugal. Nico Guillen pulled one back for an improved Sevilla side after the break but Blues had the last laugh when Marc Leonard scored a stupendous free-kick three minutes from time. Not the best of starts for new manager Matias Almeyda. Regis le Bris: “It’s all about the connection with the game. It was good, and the conditions were good.” “It is time to connect with the group, we built a strong culture last season and now it is time to welcome him (Habib) and to create references about his role on the grass and the connection he has to build to be competitive during the Premier League. It will take time, but we need to enjoy having new players in the building as well, because they reinforce the squad. It was good to see Niall (Huggins), Jenson (Seelt) and Ahmed (Abdullahi) at the level today because they struggled last season with many injuries. “When you are a player at their level, you want to play – but it wasn’t the case. They have the opportunity of a full pre-season, and we know it’s really important to build this foundation for the future, so it will be good to see them again.” Matías Jesus Almeyda : “It was our first friendly in which we saw things we wanted to improve. It is part of the plan and the important thing is that no one got injured and everyone gave it their all. This is the beginning.” Still missing a number of players, Almeyda explained the basic tactical concepts he wants to implement: “There were many academy players out their and it is important to have them in during pre-season. We have to keep with our double sessions because there is still a long way to go and these matches are part of the process.” The impression after the first week of work is “very good” for Almeyda, who highlighted “the keenness” of all the players and the hardness of the training sessions, because "it was noticeable in the match, the tired legs, but it does not worry me because it is normal. We have to be ready for the match right from the start.” Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC Squad: Patterson, Moore, Noukeu, Young, Seelt, Hjelde, Alese, Cirkin, Reinildo, O’Nien, Ballard, Hume, Huggins, Johnson, Triantis, Neil, Browne, J. Jones, Sadiki, Le Fee, Aleksic, Roberts, Adingra, Rigg, Talbi, Mundle, Isidor, Mayenda, Abdullahi, Diarra, Tutierov, H.Jones, Lavery, Bainbridge, Middlemas, Ogunsuyi. Injured: O’Nien, Alese, Cirkin, Hjelde, Rigg Sevilla Squad: Nyland, Fernandez, Ferllo; Carmona, Ramón Mtnez., Kike Salas, Oso; Rivera, M. Bueno; Ejuke, Alfon, Vargas; Isaac. Alberto Flores, Castrín, Marcao, Pedrosa, Lulo, Guillén, Collado, Januzaj, Idumbo, Peque y Rafa Mir. My two pence: The squad flew out to Portugal on Tuesday and will have had a good few days to bond with some of the new lads. I’m looking forward to seeing how they all get on against a higher calibre side than last weekend but it’s still early and all about getting fit and back up to speed. I’m going for a 2-0 Sunderland win To all those travelling - I'm sure you'll have a great time out there Live Stream: The game will be available to stream live on https://www.safc.com/live individual match passes priced at £6.99 will be on sale later this week. Alternatively, supporters can purchase a full pre-season bundle for £40 https://www.safc.com/videos/subscriptions Sevilla have a live radio station but I'm not sure if they will cover this game https://sevillafc.es/partido/sevilla-fc-vs-sunderland-afc Ha’way the Lads
Looking forward to seeing Talbi, Adingra and Sadiki for the first time. Good test this, more minutes in the legs and another chance to bed in tactical tweaks. Don't care about the result but I fancy Talbi to score.
