Alex Neil has suggested he is ready to take advantage of Sunderland’s weaknesses this weekend.
Speaking in in a Q&A with StokeonTrentLive, the manager claimed he knows the players ‘inside and out’ and has identified what they aren’t very good at.
It has been 14 months since Alex Neil decided to leave Sunderland to join Stoke, shortly after winning promotion to the Championship.
The Scot was reunited with his former side in March and claimed a 5-1 victory on Wearside, while Sunderland are desperate to get their revenge on their former coach this time round.
While Tony Mowbray‘s side currently sit fourth in the league table, 17 places above the Potters, Neil has shared his positivity and believes the meeting could be a lot tighter than expected.
“I’ve seen Sunderland a lot. I know all their players inside and out,” the Stoke boss said.
“I know what they’re going to bring and what they’re good at. I know what maybe they’re not so good at.
“But this is such a crazy league and a lot of games now are decided by key moments; whether you’re effective enough in those key moments to take the chances and making sure you don’t make any silly or naive mistakes and you don’t concede any soft goals.
“I think that’s ultimately what this game is going to boil down to it. That’ll certainly be what swings the game one way or another in terms of people maybe having one moment of real quality of someone making a mistake.”
Will Alex Neil claim the bragging rights once again?
Alex Neil certainly isn’t wrong in having a good understanding of our players, and he displayed that very well when Stoke thrashed us eight months ago.
However, Sunderland’s humiliating defeat to Middlesbrough could potentially spur them on. Mowbray’s side are very good at bouncing back and it would be surprising if they don’t come out all guns blazing at the bet365 Stadium.
While it could go down to a mistake or a soft goal, Sunderland will be sure to avoid being on the wrong side of that once again.