Sunderland head to Hillsborough on Friday night for what promises to be a tough, but very exciting Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday.
Matters don’t get any easier for Sunderland after back-to-back defeats in the Championship for the first time under Regis Le Bris, who next takes his side to Sheffield Wednesday.
Last time out, Sunderland lost 1-0 against Hull City at the Stadium of Light. It was the Black Cats’ first home league defeat all season and they go into Friday’s game now 13 points behind league leaders Leeds United, and eight behind Sheffield United in 2nd.
Danny Rohl‘s Sheffield Wednesday meanwhile sit in 13th place of the Championship table. They too come into this game on back-to-back defeats having been thumped 4-0 by Burnley in their last outing.
Here we make some predictions for the Friday night clash between Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday…
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Danny Rohl has mastered substitutions, Regis Le Bris hasn’t
Before Sunderland appointed Le Bris in the summer, Owls boss Rohl was linked with a move to Wearside. The German shone last season, guiding the Owls to safety despite them going winless in their opening 13 games of the season.
And one thing he’s very good at is substitutions. There’s been numerous times when his side have been trailing at half-time or late in the game and yet Wednesday have salvaged points because of changes that Rohl has made.
Notably in December, Rohl’s side came from three goals down to draw 3-3 with Middlesbrough, with a double change at half-time spurring the draw. But his Friday opponent Le Bris is struggling to make his substitutions work right now.
Sunderland fans have been critical of Le Bris in recent weeks with his changes having come under the spotlight. After the defeat at Leeds, Marco Gabbiadini rued Le Bris’ decision to bring on Salis Abdul Samed in the second half.
On Friday night, Rohl will show Sunderland and Le Bris what positive substitutions look like, in what’s going to be a very difficult game for sure.
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Chris Rigg is finally rested for Sunderland
The time might be right for Chris Rigg to take a break. Many have been saying that the 17-year-old is in desperate need of a rest for some time now, with his performance levels having noticeably dropped in the last several weeks.
Le Bris did hook Rigg after an hour of the last game against Hull City, and with Enzo Le Fee sidelined for up to two months, it’ll be difficult to drop Rigg. But Le Bris needs to think about the very end of the season and possible play-off games.
Having Rigg fit and firing for then is going to be key. Romaine Mundle is back in starting contention now and Alan Browne could be too, so resting Rigg on Friday seems like a good idea. Recent reports have also revealed that Inter are plotting a £12million move for Rigg.
A positive reminder of how far Sunderland have come
Whilst the going is getting pretty tough for Sunderland at the minute, playing Sheffield Wednesday for a second time this season will be a timely reminder of how far they’ve come.
Earlier in the season, Sunderland hammered Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 at the Stadium of Light. But just a few months before that, Sunderland lost 2-0 at home to the Owls on the final day of the 2023/24 season, in a game that kept Wednesday in the division.
That season, Sunderland finished just six points above the drop zone in the end. But fast-forward to now and Sunderland are still in with a chance of finishing inside the top two.
If nothing else, Friday’s game should be a reminder of the positive progress made in such a short space of time.