Sunderland were poor last weekend at West Ham, and Regis Le Bris has had plenty of time to ponder what went wrong against the Hammers. Hopefully a few days off and a few days on the training ground will have got the lads’ heads back in the right spot, and with Habib Diarra fit again his return will hopefully compensate for the continued absence of captain Granit Xhaka. Here’s how I think we could line up tonight.
Goalkeeper: Robin Roefs
Roefs will probably be a little disappointed he didn’t save at least one of West Ham’s
goals last week – which is more a reflection on his superbly high standards this season than anything else.
Defence: Nordi Mukiele, Dan Ballard, Omar Alderete, Reinildo
Reinildo had a shocker last week, which was a huge shock as he’s been brilliant all season long. But he’ll keep his place alongside the rest of the back four that played last weekend. While Mukiele did brilliantly to set up Brobbey’s goal, he let himself down a bit with his reaction when coming off, but I’m sure people have had a word with him since. In the centre, Ballard and Alderete should line up together again. I don’t think the defence was too much to blame last week – the protection provided by the midfield was non-existent, which is why I think we’ll see changes in front of the back four.
Midfield: Lutsharel Geertruida, Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra
There’s been a lot of speculation about Lutsharel Geertruida over the past 24 hours, but as of this morning, it looks like he’s staying and has been reassured of his place in the squad, so I think he’ll play tonight in midfield. Trai Hume was badly exposed last weekend, and it wasn’t all his fault – the decision to switch formation and go with one man fewer in midfield – having already lost Xhaka – was a bold one, and it didn’t work in the slightest. We’ll see us revert to a more familiar formation today, with Noah Sadiki alongside Geertruida, and Habib Diarra coming back into the starting XI as well. If Geertruida isn’t at the club by the time kick off arrives, I think we’ll see Sadiki, Le Fee and Diarra in the centre, with Talbi left and Mayenda on the right, but fingers crossed the Dutchman is in SR5 come kick off…
Forwards: Chemsdine Talbi, Brian Brobbey, Enzo Le Fee
After getting a 45 minute run out at West Ham, Talbi will come back into the team tonight, and Brobbey will lead the line – this lad’s getting better and better, and was one of only a couple of positives from the West Ham game. I think Le Fee will get moved over to the left tonight after playing a deeper, more central role last week. It’s possible that Talbi could go left, Diarra right and Le Fee centrally, but I feel we’ll be inclined to go ‘back to basics’ tonight, and Le Fee’s done exceptionally well on the left this season.
