Heroes and Villains - SAFCvAVFC preview
On Sunday, Sunderland host Aston Villa as they look to continue their impressive start to the season. Aston Villa on the other hand are looking to just get their season started after a disappointing string of results and not actually recording a league goal as of yet. The stage is set for interesting affair as, on paper, the Villa squad is very impressive and as Regis Le Bris noted in his press conference this week, there is no nice time to play Aston Villa.
In my Palace preview, I warned against writing the black cats off as I felt it was a good time to play the eagles and Adam Wharton being injured meant there was every chance Sunderland could get something and a well earned point it was. I’m going to be a bit braver here and say Sunderland should be slight favourites. A strong start at home with some impressive performances and a good demonstration of resilience last weekend offers a lot more than just hope.
We’ve looked every bit a premier league outfit and the stats back that up. We are 10th in Goals scored, we are 11th in average ball possession, 3rd in goals conceded. So not only can we score goals, we can also defend pretty well. It’s still very early days but if we can keep the momentum up with a good result against Aston Villa we will find ourselves in an excellent position. Ultimately I think by game 9 or 10 we will have a good idea of where we stand.
The Villains will be without execellent midfielder Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana and a misfiring Ollie Watkins is overall good news for Sunderland but the arrival of Harvey Elliot cannot be ignored. They possess a lot of height and power in across the pitch but they have been vulnerable this season, against Aston Villa they played a lot of the game in Crystal Palace’s half but still conceded 3 goals. Which for me, would demonstrate that they are liable to countered on and if we can pick the ball up and break quickly, we have every chance of catching out the attacking full backs Matty Cash and Maatsen/Digne out. Villa have a busy few weeks ahead with Italian team Bologna visiting Villa Park on Thursday in the Europa League and given the poor start, you wonder if they will have an eye on Europe as a way to maintain their European status.
Sunderland have Big Dan Ballard back from injury and Noah Sadiki is fit to start despite picking up a knock last week. Enzo Le Fee also returns recovering from a knock suffered in training before the Palace game. I expect to see either Talbi or Adingra drop to the bench in place of Le Fee. The next big call for RLB is whether Brian Brobbey comes into the starting line up, or he keeps faith with Isidor or returns to Mayenda. The depth in the squad now makes the French head coach a little unpredictable as he can make subtle changes to suit opposition or throw the opposition off.
I think Villa are always a dangerous side but their midfield is substantially weaker without Onana and Tielemans and Sunderland have to try and take advantage of that. Sadiki and Diarra need to be at their absolute best to support Xhaka and keep Harvey Elliot quiet. Watkins has pace, power and height, but Sunderland have enough to match that. I think the lads at home is going to be a nightmare for clubs this season and the fans are going to be up for it, the players will be, I think Sunderland win and I think Sunderland thrive against teams like Villa so I’m going for a 2-1 win.
I can’t end this without mentioning that the match tomorrow will have an extra special atmosphere as tomorrows game has been dedicated as part of the Cancer Has No Colours Campaign. There will be a fan display arranged by This is Wearside and funds raised for the Bradley Lowrey Foundation. Bradley was an incredible human being who will live forever in Sunderland’s history. His story and his family has no doubt helped and will continue to help countless families for decades to come through the foundation. Thank you Bradley, let’s get 3 points tomorrow.
Let’s get carried away man…
