Sunderland travel to Cardiff City in their opening Championship game this weekend.
Sunderland get their 2024/25 Championship season underway with a trip to Cardiff City this weekend.
The Black Cats go into this one on the back of a 2-2 draw vs Marseille at Valley Parade over the weekend, in what was Regis Le Bris’ final pre-season friendly.
The Frenchman arrived at the Stadium of Light earlier this summer after what was a four-month search process for a new, permanent manager at Sunderland.
He’s an unknown quantity for Sunderland who achieved a disappointing 16th place finish in the Championship last time round.
Cardiff City meanwhile achieved a 12th place finish under Turkish boss Erol Bulut.
It was his first season managing in England and he guided the Bluebirds to their best league finish since 2021.
Last time out, Cardiff City won 2-0 away at League One Bristol Rovers in what was the Welsh club’s final pre-season friendly game.
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What has Erol Bulut said about Cardiff City’s pre-season ahead of Sunderland clash
This summer, Cardiff have played eight friendly games, winning five and losing just one.
The Bluebirds have picked up wins against the likes of Hamburger SV and Reading among others, and have scored plenty of goals too; 10 in seven games with just six conceded.
In terms of signings, Cardiff have signed previous Sunderland target Chris Willock, along with former Arsenal man Calum Chambers on a free transfer, Anwar El Ghazi on a free transfer, and striker Wilfried Kanga on loan from Hertha BSC.
Speaking to the club after his side’s pre-season friendly win vs Bristol Rovers last weekend, Bulut had this to say: “We’ve had a great six weeks with the team.
“The level of games that we played, good results, and we also played well, which is really positive.
“I’m happy, also, with the youngsters we took with us. They did a great job, so the future looks good.
“But still, we cannot stop the work. We have to work a lot, because pre-season is something else, friendly games are something else. Next week the league is starting – for this we have to be 100% ready.”
On the upcoming Sunderland game, Bulut said: “We play at home in front of our fans.
“I’m hoping the stadium will be full to support us, because we need them. This is the 12th power for us, and I hope we can deliver good football and start with three points.”
Bulut added: “Of course, you cannot change everything in one season.
“We had really good games last season, but this season it looks more comfortable, more that the players exactly know what they have to do.
“Even the new players. They came in, they’ve adapted quickly, and we’ve worked a lot on that. I hope we can keep that until the end of the season in a good way.”
Sunderland must be wary of new-look Cardiff City under Erol Bulut
Although Cardiff City haven’t signed a tonne of players, much like Sunderland, the Welsh club have certainly had a positive pre-season.
Cardiff have played a lot of games, won a lot of them and scored a lot of goals along the way too, finishing with a confident win against a strong Bristol Rovers side.
Last season, the Bluebirds achieved a strong league finish, albeit finishing just six points ahead of a poor Sunderland side in the end.
Cardiff are very physical and play very direct under Bulut who was often criticised among Cardiff fans for what was, at times last season, a quite negative style of play.
They’ve added some flair with the likes of Willock this summer though. And Cardiff have seen Aaron Ramsey playing regularly this summer, so he could be ready to hit the ground running this weekend.
Sunderland certainly need to be wary of Cardiff who appear to be getting more and more familiar with Bulut and his style after one season under the Turk.
A win for the Black Cats would be a huge result, though it’ll be very difficult to come by.