Sunderland welcome Plymouth Argyle to the Stadium of Light in the Championship. Last time out Sunderland beat Derby and Plymouth lost to Burnley. Sunderland made one change to the starting lineup with Mayenda joining Isidor up front and Roberts dropping to the bench. The Black Cats started slowly and let Derby have a lot of the ball but then dominated play and took the lead on 28 minutes with Mayenda coolly slotting it through the keepers legs. Derby came back strongly in the second half, but Sunderland held out and should have had a second goal that was bizarrely disallowed. Poveda, Seelt and Abdullahi played in the U21s vs Benfica in midweek and could be in contention. Aji Alese will miss the remainder of the campaign. Huggins, Mundle, Browne, Watson remain on the injured list. Plymouth lost 5-0 at home to Burnley Argyle omitted star forward Morgan Whittaker amid transfer interest from Burnley - the Clarets put in a bid worth more than £5m earlier this week - but even without him the gulf between the two sides was clear to see from the outset. Whittaker has now signed for Middlesbrough. Regis le Bris: “It was a big win, an important win for our journey, it was a tough game. We had the opportunity to score a second goal, but we didn’t and with their back three and wide players, it was difficult to press and apply pressure on their first ball. “I think after the first 15 minutes, the formation worked well. We were good in that part of the game, and Eli scored in that position so it was positive from that perspective. “After that, it was a bit more difficult and we lost a bit of control in the middle of the pitch. When we have two strikers, we have one less player in the middle. "Halfway through the second half, we decided to make a change and play with three midfielders again, and I think it was better for us. At the end, it was a good choice.” Press Conference: Miron Muslic: "I take full responsibility for our performance and I take also full responsibility for the result. "Again, the first goal - we just gave this goal away on a silver plate for the opponent due to an individual mistake. "But it's football and it can happen, but the reaction was then the team gave up in this moment, not really the desire to fight until the end. "You go into half-time with a five-goal difference and you know the game is over. "The pressure was full on us, the crowd was on us, fully deserved, and it takes a lot of courage to get out of the locker room and continue playing for another 45 minutes. "I demanded this courage, not to change the result, because that was simply impossible, but if you can have this courage to face this and face this harsh and tough reality that might help us for the next couple of weeks and months." Form: Match Appointments Referee: OLIVER LANGFORD Assistant referees: Mark Dwyer & Hugh Gilroy Fourth official: Jeremy Simpson Team Lineups: Sunderland AFC: (4-3-3) Patterson, Cirkin, O’Nien, Ballard, Hume, Neil, Jobe, Le Fée, Rigg, Mayenda, Isidor Subs: Moore, Hjelde, Ballard, Samed, Aouchiche, Aleksic, Jones, Roberts, Ogunsuyi. Injured: Huggins, Browne, Mundle, Watson, Poveda, Alese, Mepham. Plymouth Argyle: (4-2-3-1) Grimshaw, Mumba, Pleguezuelo, Palsson, Puchacz, Randell, Gyabi, Ogbeta, Baidoo, Al Hadjj, Hardie. Subs: Baker, Bundu, Cissoko, Issaka, Houghton, Roberts, Sorinola, Wright Injured: None Betting Odds: Sunderland 3/10 Plymouth 8/1 Draw 17/3 Prutton Predicts: meh My two pence: A great result against Derby, at last we finally put a team to the sword I hope that the disallowed goal does not bite us where it hurts at the end of the season. Plymouth are bottom of the league for a reason but somehow they managed to beat us at their place so I'm not taking this result for granted. I’m going for a 2-0 home win. Live Stream: https://www.safc.com/live (Available to overseas fans) Ha’way the Lads
Hoping for a comfortable win here. Think we'll go with the 442 with Le Fee and Roberts wide. 2-0. Isidor brace.
Don't like to take any result for granted but if we play well then this should be comfortable. That said they were thrashed off Burnley so I expect them to sit deep and hope not to lose.
Another tough game in the championship for compelling different reasons. We owe them one for a daft 20 minutes at their place. We should have enough but those thinking we're going to massively improve our goal difference I suggest they look away now. Steady home win and another 3 points with one step closer to our goal. Thanks RTB, HTL.
Have to win really, if we're serious about top two, then have to get the 3 points here. I think we'll win 2-0, Plymouth losing 5-0 will have them really defensive and solid so some patience could be required. Just like Derby, the win is all that matters. My team would be: Patto Hume Meptham Onien Cirkin Roberts Neil Jobe Le Fee Mayenda Isidor HTL
That's my team too. Be interesting to see if he tries Ballard in place of O'Nein. Not saying he will or needs to in this one, but I think RLB likes Ballard.
I do too. Dont think he wants to rush him back with his injury record, even though this should be a good game to bring him in to get some minutes. Hard to drop Onien also though, his style works well with how we play.
it's a nightmare choice really, as Onien is 'better' at most things but I think RLB likes Ballard for heading and set pieces.
They are where they are in the table because they are a poor side, but they have just been wounded by one of our promotion rivals, so we need to be aware of a backlash. We need to be precise in our build up play and keep probing for an opener. Once that comes - keep probing! Burnley were relentless against a team whose heads dropped and the flood gates opened. No mercy. 3-0 and prepare for the Smoggie bastards!
Top post again RTB , your team is spot on and what a bench , jumping the gun maybe but winning the next two games 1-0 0-1 would be something special. OaU
I'd start Roberts ahead of Rigg but would keep the 442 from the last game (even though I'm not a massive fan of it) This game will likely be a lot closer than folk expect, we are killing off teams at the minute and whenever a team get hammer you find they are usually very defensive in their next game We should hammer them but I reckon it'll be a tight game
