Football - Sunderland v Southampton preview
Sunderland v Southampton preview
Ronald Koeman is wary of a Sunderland backlash following their 6-2 loss at Everton, but believes Southampton's quality will shine through in Saturday's Barclays Premier League match.
Sunderland welcome Koeman's men to the Stadium of Light after a 3-0 win over Newcastle United in their last home match, which was a maiden victory as manager for Sam Allardyce. Allardyce's side sit second bottom with six points from 11 matches, although Koeman is taking nothing for granted, especially as Sunderland claimed a 2-1 win in last season's corresponding fixture as they narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship.
Koeman said: "We know what we can expect from Sunderland, they will react, they play at home they need points, normally those are the most dangerous teams to play against.
"I don't think they will do the kind of mistakes they did against Everton. "We have players to create a lot of problems to them. If we play on our level, if we are doing what we have to do and what we used to do in the last few games, we are the better side."
Southampton, enjoying another impressive start, have no new injury worries to contend with, although they will be without midfielder Victor Wanyama due to suspension. Wanyama joins Shane Long (ankle) and Jay Rodriguez (foot) on the sidelines, with Koeman confirming the forward duo are still not 100 per cent fit.
Koeman told Southampton's YouTube channel: "They are close, but still it's too fast for them to be part of the team. "I hope that the two weeks in the international break give them the possibility to get total freshness, to be prepared for the next one."
Sunderland are set to have Fabio Borini (ankle), John O'Shea (hamstring), Ola Toivonen and Younes Kaboul (both groin) back from injury. But the hosts will be without the services of midfielder Lee Cattermole because of a groin problem.
After conceding six goals at Everton, striker Steven Fletcher wants to make sure Sunderland keep their focus in both attack and defence, telling the club's www.safc.com: "The amount of chances we got on Sunday was the most I have ever had in a game since I moved to Sunderland.
"It's good in that aspect but we need to keep the door shut at the other end. "We are creating chances though which is a good thing, hopefully we can stop conceding so many and we will be alright."
Sunderland (from): Mannone, Pantilimon, Stryjek, Brown, Coates, Jones, Kaboul, O'Shea, Van Aanholt, Yedlin, Bridcutt, Gomez, Johnson, Larsson, M'Vila, Rodwell, Borini, Defoe, Fletcher, Gooch, Graham, Lens, Toivonen, Watmore.
Southampton (from): K Davis, Gazzaniga, Stekelenburg, Bertrand, Caulker, Cedric, Fonte, Martina, McCarthy, Targett, Van Dijk, Yoshida, Clasie, S Davis, Mane, McQueen, Ramirez, Reed, Romeu, Tadic, Ward-Prowse, Juanmi, Pelle.
Match Appointments
Referee: Mike Jones Assistants: R West, D Eaton Fourth Official: O Langford