Sunderland take on QPR in West London on Saturday afternoon, with Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats eyeing a fourth-straight win.
Sunderland will be expected to claim another routine win in the Championship this weekend, taking on a QPR side who sit in 23rd place of the table.
That’s compared to the Black Cats who sit in 1st after a whirlwind start to life under Regis Le Bris, whose side have won their last three.
Sunderland beat Oxford United 2-0 in their last outing with two well-taken goals from Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor on the day.
It marked a third-straight win for the Black Cats in the space of less than a week too. As things stand, there’s a 19-point gap between Sunderland and QPR in the Championship table.
Sunderland team and injury news vs QPR with Anthony Patterson update
For the last outing against Oxford United, Le Bris was forced to start no.2 goalkeeper Simon Moore due to an injury to Anthony Patterson.
Speaking to the press on Thursday, Le Bris revealed that Patterson looks set to miss one more game for Sunderland, meaning Moore will start once again.
But Eliezer Mayenda is set to be available against after he trained in the Sunderland open training session in midweek.
Dan Ballard remains sidelined but is tipped to return to first-team training on Friday.
Le Bris remains without the longer-term absentees Jenson Seelt, Niall Huggins, Aji Alese, Ian Poveda, Salis Abdul Samed, and Ahmed Abdullahi.
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Sunderland predicted lineup to face QPR this weekend
With QPR having been so poor this season, Le Bris will view this as an absolute must-win for his side, so expect a full-strength and attacking side.
And with Sunderland having been so good of late, and not looking as though they’re tiring, we could see another unchanged XI from Le Bris.
Moore will start in goal and Chris Mepham will no doubt keep his place at centre-back given the absence of Ballard.
The midfield shape may change, as it did for the trip to Luton Town last week. But with QPR not likely to give as physical a battle as Luton did, we should see the usual formation from Le Bris.
Here’s how we think Sunderland start against QPR on Saturday, with kick off a 3pm…
Moore (GK)
Cirkin
O’Nien
Mepham
Hume
Bellingham
Neil
Mundle
Rigg
Roberts
Isidor