Sunderland v Burnley: Premier League – live updates | Premier League
Key events
Here come the teams…
Sunderland are still unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season. They might be missing Granit Xhaka but you must think they will fancy their chances tonight.
Regis Le Bris: “We need to balance our squad. We have to find adaptations, we have different setups available and I hope this one will work well.
“Step by step, today will be a tough challenge. The connection with the crowd is really important. We feel the responsibility.”
One key issue this season for Burnley has been the creation and finishing of chances. Parker has backed Foster today, having scored last weekend against Tottenham. The South African has not looked convincing as a Premier League striker and his three goals in 16 appearances this season has done nothing to change minds.
Pre-match reading.
Ward-Prowse on the bench of Burnley. Ugochukwu and Florentino Luis are a decent pair, to be fair.
I covered the reverse of this fixture back in August. Burnley won 2-0 against a dreadful Sunderland side and I thought the Black Cats’ opening day win over West Ham was a flash in the pan. Always good to be reminded how wrong I generally am.
Get your deadline fill with John Brewin.
Starting lineups
Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinildo; Diarra, Sadiki; Hume, Le Fee, Talbi; Brobbey.
Subs: Moore, Cirkin, O’Nien, Geertruida, Rigg, Mundle, Isidor, Mayenda, Jen Jones
Burnley (5-2-2-1): Dúbravka; Walker, Tuanzebe, Estève, Humphreys, Lucas Pires; Ugochukwu, Florentino; Edwards, Anthony; Foster.
Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Bruun Larsen, Tchaouna, Flemming, Ward-Prowse, Broja, Hannibal, Broja
Preamble
After a joyous day of transfer chitter chatter, we get some current football to finish it. Sunderland are sat in mid-table on 33 points and rapidly closing on the magical 40 mark. Few at the start of the season will have anticipated their smooth adaptation to the Premier League but smart recruitment and brilliant coaching has almost-certainly guaranteed them a second season at the top table.
The same, however, cannot be said of Burnley who are 11 points adrift of safety and in desperate need of putting a run of results together. They have not won in 14 Premier League games and are facing a swift return to the Championship. Scott Parker regularly stresses the “fine margins” in their defeats, which is fair because they are rarely thumped, but the truth of the matter is they are the second worst team in the league at the moment. Their squad just lacks the cutting edge required to get Burnley over the line in tight matches.
Let’s hope for a cracker.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
