Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris will need to be wary of one Millwall player, whilst also being clued up on another they could exploit on Saturday afternoon.
Sunderland will face Millwall on Saturday, where the Black Cats will hope to respond to their poor defeat to Coventry City prior to the international break.
Unfortunately, Sunderland will be without both Dennis Cirkin and Leo Hjelde, on top of the likes of Dan Ballard and Aji Alese, meaning that options are very light at the back for the Black Cats.
Ahead of the game, Millwall and former Sunderland boss Alex Neil has given his verdict on the Black Cats side, and has also identified Wilson Isidor as a key threat for Regis Le Bris’ side.
Like Neil, Sunderland boss Le Bris certainly will have done his homework on Millwall’s key men…
Sunderland should be wary of Millwall star Jake Cooper
One man who could potentially cause Sunderland problems this weekend is Millwall centre-back Jake Cooper.
The Lions’ defender is a 6ft4 colossus, and is a very dependable player for Neil’s side at the back, and has helped his team to 11 clean sheets this season.
On top of that, Cooper poses a potent goal threat, particularly from set-pieces, having bagged three goals in the 2024/25 Championship season, all of which have been headers, an unsurprising stat considering the huge frame of the defender that Le Bris’ makeshift defence may struggle to deal with on corners and free-kicks.
- READ MORE: Alex Neil on the ‘difficult situation’ Sunderland find themselves in, he thinks they are ‘in limbo’
Regis Le Bris should look to exploit Lukas Jensen
One player that Sunderland could potentially look to exploit is Millwall goalkeeper Lukas Jensen.
Whilst Jensen is a more-than-competent shot-stopper at this level, being one of the reasons why Millwall find themselves in 11th place, he is somewhat prone to errors, having, per SofaScore, made two errors leading to goals in the 2024/25 Championship season.
The Millwall goalkeeper also isn’t the most comfortable when it comes to playing out from the back, with the goalkeeper having a bizarrely low 40% passing accuracy, which comes from Neil’s side’s reluctance to pass the ball to him.
Le Bris will know that, if the goalkeeper does pick up the ball, triggering the press could push him into a likely mistake, something that Sunderland must certainly capitalise on if they want to see off Millwall with any sort of ease.