Sunderland have little time to mull over Saturday’s disappointing draw to Watford, as they have to get back in action again on Wednesday night against Luton Town.
While Sunderland were able to maintain their unbeaten home record with a late Dennis Cirkin equaliser securing a 2-2 draw against Watford on Saturday, the Black Cats will be frustrated not to have taken all three points.
Very few players came out of the game with a positive rating in our assessment of Sunderland’s efforts on the day. Indeed, they will need to get back to their dominant best when Luton come to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night.
So, who will Regis Le Bris lean on for the upcoming fixture? Here’s who will be missing, and who we think will make the starting lineup.
Sunderland team and injury news ahead of Luton visit
Last week, Le Bris offered an update on three players: Alan Browne is back in training already, Romaine Mundle should now have joined him, while Tommy Watson is due to return by next weekend. All three are unlikely to feature this week, but they are firmly on the comeback trail.
Meanwhile, deadline day signing Jayden Danns, who arrived injured, is expected to miss around two weeks of action for his new club.
However, the good news is that Jobe Bellingham should be in contention for the Luton game, after missing the weekend’s game against Watford with a minor injury.
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Eliezer Mayenda starts as Regis Le Bris reverts to 4-4-2 formation
While Le Bris is unlikely to shake things up too much when it comes to personnel for Wednesday’s game against Luton, we do expect a change in formation.
We know the Sunderland manager prefers a 4-5-1 structure normally, but it is clear that Wilson Isidor is being isolated in that system, and he needs Eliezer Mayenda beside him to get the best results.
That means one midfielder will have to drop out of the team, but after Salis Abdul Samed’s struggles against Watford, he would be the obvious candidate to miss out.
We’ll likely see a midfield four of Patrick Roberts out on the right, Enzo Le Fee on the left again, with Dan Neil and Chris Rigg as the central pairing. While Jobe may be fit by Wednesday, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the influential star preserved on the bench from the start.
Sunderland fans may be frustrated by Dennis Cirkin of late, but it’s hard to imagine Le Bris altering his back four at this moment in time, even with Dan Ballard still waiting in the wings for a return to the starting lineup.