Sunderland take a break from league duties with an FA Cup clash against Mark Robins’ Stoke City on Saturday, in a fixture that’s been an incredibly familiar one over the last few weeks.
On Saturday afternoon, Sunderland will play Stoke City for the third time since December 7th, and amazingly, the Potters have had a different manager in place for each game.
The first of those three games had Narcis Pelach in the Stoke dugout. He was sacked ahead of the second and Ryan Shawcross came in as caretaker manager. Now, it’s Mark Robins who’ll try and get a tune out of the Potters.
Last time out, Stoke drew 0-0 at home to Plymouth Argyle in Robins’ first game. The Potters reside in 19th place of the Championship table compared to Sunderland in 4th, with an impressive 23 points between the two.
Sunderland beat Portsmouth 1-0 in their last outing having won both their opening game of 2025, beating Sheffield United 2-1 on New Year’s Day.
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Sunderland team news vs Stoke City, latest on Dan Ballard and more
Regis Le Bris revealed the latest Sunderland team news on Thursday afternoon, with the Black Cats having several concerns in their squad right now.
The Frenchman revealed that Chris Rigg will be fit to return after a two-week stint on the sidelines. Dan Ballard though remains around a week away from a return, Le Bris added.
Meanwhile there could be debuts for summer signings Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi who Le Bris says should be available for the game, whilst Tommy Watson and Romaine Mundle are a few weeks away yet.
Sunderland remain without Jenson Seelt, Niall Huggins, Ian Poveda, and Alan Browne.
Sunderland predicted lineup vs Stoke City
In his pre-match presser, Le Bris said that he doesn’t want to make too many changes from his usual XI and take away any of his side’s current momentum, so expect a strong side on Saturday.
Likewise, Robins may use this game to get to figure out his best XI and so Saturday’s game could be a very competitive one.
Expect the very capable Simon Moore to step in for Anthony Patterson. Also expect the likes of Dennis Cirkin to return to the XI, and Milan Aleksic to perhaps get a start, with a couple of key players bound to be rested.
Aaron Connolly could also be given a start up front depending on what formation Le Bris opts for, with a 4-4-2 looking like his new favourite set up.
Le Bris could also use this game to give a run out for the likes of youth products Harrison Jones and Trey Ogunsuyi, either from the off or off the bench.
Here’s how we think Sunderland will line up against Stoke City on Saturday…
Moore (GK)
Cirkin
O’Nien
Alese
Hume
Aouchiche
Aleksic
Jones
Roberts
Mayenda
Connolly