Sunderland welcome an out of sorts Swansea City side to Wearside this weekend.
Sunderland are back at the Stadium of Light this weekend, in their first game since sacking Michael Beale on Monday.
It’s also Mike Dodds‘ first game in interim charge and he’ll look to avoid a third-straight loss for the Black Cats, following defeats vs Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City.
Sunderland remain in 10th place of the table but are now seven points outside the top six. Swansea City meanwhile are down in 18th and have lost four of their last five in the league, winning just one of their last seven.
Ryan Dilks predicts Sunderland win vs Swansea City
On paper, Sunderland will be backed to win this one.
But given the circumstances; Beale’s exit and the uncertainty of who will eventually replace him, and also the fact that Jack Clarke has been ruled out of the Swansea City game, it won’t be an easy task.
Still, speaking on The Second Tier podcast ahead of this weekend, EFL pundit Ryan Dilks has backed Sunderland to get a win against the Swansea.
He said:
“Whoever the manager is of Sunderland, they should be looking at this game as one they have to be winning, because Swansea are in pitiful form. Whether they’ve got the best player or not, Sunderland this is, they should be looking to win this game, that’s why I’m going for Sunderland as my banker for this weekend. Admittedly, would be a lot more confident if Jack Clarke was fit, but, I’m still backing Black Cats nonetheless.”
Mike Dodds facing potential banana skin this weekend
Sunderland will be widely expected to beat an out of form Swansea City side tomorrow, even without Clarke in their ranks.
Dodds is also without Dan Ballard who is suspended for the next two games, but thankfully the Black Cats have a lot of quality to call upon.
Expect Jenson Seelt to come into the XI, and in place of Clarke we could see one of a number of different options, with Chris Rigg potentially in line for some game time this weekend.
So Sunderland still have a lot of threat in their side and against a Swans outfit who’ve fired blanks in three of their last six in all competitions, the absence of Ballard shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance.
Swansea though will likely view Sunderland as an out of favour team themselves and it could be a chance for boss Luke Williams to restore some confidence and pull away from the drop zone.
This game is very much a potential banana skin for Dodds and Sunderland, though a confident win here would reinstate a huge amount of confidence ahead of the run-in.