Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris must keep two Plymouth Argyle players bookmarked ahead of their weekend clash.
Regis Le Bris’ side are set to welcome Plymouth Argyle to the Stadium of Light this weekend, where Sunderland will be hoping to make it a second successive Championship victory, and take their unbeaten Championship run to five games.
The Black Cats will be expecting a win on home soil, coming up against a Plymouth Argyle side without a single win in their last 14 Championship outings.
Nonetheless, Le Bris will still respect this weekend’s travellers Plymouth Argyle, formerly coached by Wayne Rooney, and now under the stewardship of Miron Muslic, and there is one player that the French boss must ensure that his side pay extra attention to in regards to diminishing the main threat of the Pilgrims.
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Sunderland must look out for Plymouth Argyle midfielder Darko Gyabi
When looking at the current Plymouth Argyle squad, there aren’t too many players that could potentially cause a threat to Sunderland, especially following the expected departure of Morgan Whittakher.
However, Sunderland will still have to be aware of the threat carried by midfielder Darko Gyabi, a streaky yet creative figure within the Plymouth Argyle side.
Per SofaScore, Gyabi has started 24 times in the 2024/25 Championship season, notching just two goal contributions.
The 20-year-old’s qualities lie within his creative abilities, achieving a surprisingly solid 79% passing accuracy in the opposition half, with an overall accuracy of 83%, something that isn’t reflective of a player in a bottom-of-the-table side.
Whilst not his forte, Gyabi will also be crucial for Plymouth in regards to defending, and could potentially be difficult to work the ball past, if he is in top form.
Regis Le Bris must look to exploit out-of-form Plymouth Argyle man Ryan Hardie
When it comes to players that Sunderland should be looking to exploit in the Plymouth Argyle side, it is relatively unfair to pick one due to the fact that very few players in the side have covered themselves in glory this season.
Nonetheless, one player that Le Bris will be aware of is out-of-form Scotsman Ryan Hardie, who has managed just one goal in the Championship this season when playing at striker, despite an xG of 3.59.
He has missed four big chances for Plymouth Argyle, and also appears to be non-existent in the Pilgrims’ attempts to play the ball around, notching a substantially low average of 3.5 passes per game.
Sunderland should have few issues dealing with any threat that Hardie may pose, and this could very much work in favour for the Black Cats and Le Bris, with the French boss potentially having the confidence to play a more attacking set-up to exploit Plymouth.