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Sunderland welcome Aston Villa to the Stadium of Light in the Premier League
Last time out Sunderland drew at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa lost on penalties at Brentford in the League cup.
The Black Cats won their first point way from home as they drew 0-0 in the capital. Jean-Philippe Mateta struck the game's first shot on target in the 49th minute, forcing a save out of Robin Roefs with Pino's rebound blocked away for a corner.
That double chance brought about hope of the match sparking into life but Palace were unable to build any momentum.
Roefs was on call to deny Daichi Kamada - getting down quickly to turn away the attempt as it fizzed across the slick surface - before standing tall to palm away a close-range attempt from Mateta.
Le Fee, Ballard and could return from injury but O'Nien needs another week or two.
Harvey Elliott marked his full debut with Villa's first goal of the season - their first in eight hours of competitive football but it wasn’t enough as Brentford levelled and went through to the next round after winning 4-2 on penalties.
Coming on the back of their winless start across four games in the Premier League.
Regis le Bris:
"In the second half they pushed, that is normal at home but we showed good character and resilience. Probably we didn't push enough to create chances. That is probably the next layer of the game.”
"You never know but the connection so far is really positive. The players want to work together and enjoy being together. You have to improve every day."
"We are not just a team who wants to defend, we have some players who are really good with the ball. We showed we are really good fighting for each other."
Press Conference:
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Unai Emery:
“They are players who have confidence in taking penalties,” Emery explained. “We have our analysis of our players, how they have performed throughout their careers [with penalties]. I have nothing to tell them.”
Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendía converted Villa’s two successful spot-kicks, but fans were surprised that Morgan Rogers wasn’t among the early takers - and that he didn’t step up at all.
“With us, we don’t have any analysis of him taking a penalty,” Emery said of Rogers. “I don’t know if he is good or not [at taking them].”
Form:
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Match Appointments:
Referee: SAM BARROTT
Assistant Referee: Timothy Wood
Assistant Referee: Wade Smith
Fourth Official: Robert Madley
Video Assistant Referee: James Bell
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Steven Meredith
Team Lineups:
Sunderland AFC: Roefe, Hume, Aldrete, Mukiele, Reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Diarra, Talbi, Adingra, Mayenda.
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Subs: Patterson, Geertruida, Masuaku, Ballard, Neil, Rigg, Le Fee, Isidor, Brobbey.
Injured: O’Nien, Alese, Cirkin, Hjelde, Mundle
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Bogarde, Guessand, Rogers, Sancho, Watkins
Substitutes: Bizot, Buendia, Maatsen, Jimoh-Aloba, Kamara, Torres, Proctor, Elliott, Malen
Injured: Barkley, Tielemans, Garcia, Onana
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Betting Odds:
Sunderland 13/5 Villa 21/20 Draw 11/5
My two pence:
Villa have started badly and currently sit in the relegation zone, they have been creating chances but are struggling to find the back of the net.
I’ll be travelling up to watch this one live
I’m going for a 2-0 win
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Live Stream:
TBC
Ha’way the Lads
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,. The next three games are going to shed more light on our survival hopes. If we manage 3 points out of the next 9 I would be very happy, but 4 would be a dream start. This is our first, and possibly best chance (its never going to be easy is it ?) to bag 3 in one go and I think we can do it if we play to our strengths. OaU. PS I like the look of your team and think Reg will go for it 