Sunderland seek to continue their strong start to the season against winless Aston Villa.
Victory will lift Sunderland as high as third in the table depending on the result of Bournemouth’s clash against Newcastle.
Aston Villa will climb out of the relegation zone with a win.
Team News
Enzo Le Fee is set to be available for Sunderland after he missed their goalless draw at Crystal Palace due to a minor injury.
Dan Ballard (groin) could return but Aji Alese, Luke O’Nien (both shoulder), Leo Hjelde (Achilles), Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Dennis Cirkin (wrist) are still sidelined.
Villa could welcome Victor Lindelöf and Andres Garcia back into contention after recoveries from separate knocks, which saw them miss Villa’s midweek Carabao Cup exit at Brentford on penalties.
Ross Barkley (personal), Amadou Onana (hamstring) and Youri Tielemans (calf) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Sunderland host Villa at Stadium of Light on Sunday 21 September at 2pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland have won just one of their last 10 Premier League meetings against Villa (W1, D5, L4).
- Villa have claimed 10 points in their last six top-flight visits to Sunderland (W3, D1, L2).
- Villa have kept clean sheets in four of their last five visits to Sunderland, except for a 3-1 loss in January 2016.
- Sunderland have kept clean sheets in their two league games at home this season (W2).
- Unai Emery’s Villains are yet to score a league goal this season (D2, L2).
Prediction
Sat in a pretty solid position after their first four league games amidst a heavy summer of spending, Sunderland will be pleased with a hard-fought point at Palace but their fitness needs more resilience after fatigue set in during the closing minutes.
Aston Villa meanwhile seem to have lost their goalscoring spark and despite being the more attacking team at Brentford, they still lacked their usual sharp touch to kill off games when ahead, although it was their first goal and non goalless draw of the season.
Sunderland though have proven difficult to beat at home this season so I expect the Black Cats to once again prove problematic, but if Villa don’t build on their midweek performance then I can see another home win brewing.
Prediction: Sunderland 2-0 Aston Villa
Result: Sunderland 1-1 Aston Villa
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