Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris will be cautious over the return of one ‘pantomime villain’ as they travel to Norwich City.
Sunderland face Norwich City on Tuesday evening, as Regis Le Bris’ side gears up for a second successive game on the road.
Last time out saw Sunderland beat West Brom at The Hawthorns, and Le Bris will be hoping to continue the momentum within his ranks as a victory against the Canaries would mark three on the spin.
Sunderland may have to make changes vs Norwich due to the quick turnaround of games, but they will still go into the clash confident, with Chris Rigg stating the mentality of the squad is perfect.
On the Norwich side, they find themselves amid a poor run of form, but they will still need to look out for one man who became the centre of the act in the reverse fixture.
Sunderland must be wary of Norwich City attacker Borja Sainz’s threat
Last time out against Norwich City at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland won 2-1 in the final fixture before Christmas, and one man who was at the centre of the game was ‘pantomime villain’ Borja Sainz.
Whilst his impact was fairly limited against Sunderland, his threat can still not be disputed, with the Spaniard tallying a total of 17 Championship goals this campaign, putting him as the league’s top scorer.
Sainz’s form has been streaky in recent times, having struggled last time out in a defeat to Plymouth Argyle, but he can still, no doubt, turn a game by causing difficulties from the left flank.
Norwich, of course, also have the potent threat of Josh Sargent up front, a striker who has found the back of the net 14 times this Championship season.
Regis Le Bris must look to exploit Norwich City midfielder Anis Ben Slimane
As for the player that Sunderland could capitalise on, attentions turn to midfielder Anis Ben Slimane, who has endured a difficult campaign with the Canaries.
The Tunisian international has often struggled to dictate games in the centre of the park in where he is often deployed with an attacking responsibility; this means that Dan Neil’s task would be to succumb any threat from the 24-year-old, and based on his recent form, it certainly looks a likely outcome for the Sunderland midfielder to win that duel.
Norwich, overall, find themselves in poor form, having won only one of their previous six, so there are certainly many areas which Sunderland could and should be looking to exploit and come back to Wearside with all three points.