Premiership preview, table prediction: 9. Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C

Sunderland Barclays Premier League position preview 2011/12

Manager: Steve Bruce

Ground: Stadium of light

Nickname: The Black Cats

Capacity: 49000

Squad:

Goalkeepers 1 Craig Gordon 20 Keiren Westwood 22 Simon Mignolet 24 Trevor Carson Defenders 2 Phil Bardsley 4 Michael Turner 5 Wes Brown 16 John O'Shea 19 Titus Bramble 27 Matthew Kilgallon 29 Anton Ferdinand 35 Michael Liddle Marcos Angeleri Nyron Nosworthy Blair Adams Louis Laing

Midfielders 6 Lee Cattermole 7 Sebastian Larsson 8 Craig Gardner 11 Kieran Richardson 14 Jack Colback 15 David Vaughan 18 David Meyler 27 Ahmed Elmohamady 28 Stephane Sessegnon 37 Adam Reed James McClean

Forwards 3 Asamoah Gyan 9 Fraizer Campbell 10 Connor Wickham 17 Dong-Won Ji 21 Oumare Tounkara 26 Jordan Cook Ryan Noble Billy Knott Craig Lynch

Sunderland ended at a disappointing 10^th position last season. They had spent a lot of money and look to be a team that could be fighting for a European spot, but that wasn’t to be last season. This year Bruce have once again gone out and spent big money. After selling Henderson to Liverpool and Bent to Aston Villa in January, so he had a lot of money to spend. This means that the expectations won’t be any less this season, but can they break into a European spot this season? I think not. Bruce usually spends big, but has problems getting the team to work as a unit, and often they disappoint after starting well. That said Sunderland was unlucky with injuries on many key players during last season, and the sale of Bent was not a clever move, but I guess he wanted to leave. Of course if Sunderland could keep their key players away from injuries and get a good start to the season they could fight for European spots.

Pre-Season Fixtures/Results

July 13 vs York City 2-1 – Bardsley, Tounkara

July 17 vs Arminia Bielefeld 1-1 – Sessegnon

July 20 vs Hannover 96 1-3 – Sessegnon

July 23 vs Borussia Monchengladbach 0-0

July 27 vs Kilmarnock 2-1 Sessegnon, Wickham

July 30 vs Burnley 0-1 August 2 vs Hartlepool United 3-1 Gyan, Larsson, Colback

August 3 vs Darlington 3-0 Cook, Gardner, Dong-Won

August 6 vs Hibernian 0-0

Players in

07/11 Wes Brown DF Manchester United

07/11 Craig Gardner MF Birmingham City

07/11 Matthew Kilgallon DF Doncaster Rovers

07/11 Sebastian Larsson MF Birmingham City

07/11 Nayron Nosworthy DF Sheffield United

07/11 John O'Shea DF Manchester United

07/11 Oumare Tounkara FW Oldham Athletic

07/11 David Vaughan MF Blackpool FC

07/11 Keiren Westwood GK Coventry City

07/11 Connor Wickham FW Ipswich Town

Players out

06/11 Jordan Henderson MF Liverpool FC

06/11 John Mensah DF Olympique Lyon

06/11 Nedum Onuoha DF Manchester City

06/11 Cristian Riveros MF Kayserispor

06/11 Danny Welbeck FW Manchester United

Steve Bruce have made some very good and interesting signings during the transfer window so far. Players like Brown and O’Shea should give them experience and quality in the back, while Sebastian Larsson can delivere good set pieces and of course eyes will be on the young talent Connor Wickham this season. I think he could actually be the young player of the year, if Bruce matches him correctly.

Injuries:

Angeleri (Marcos)           Knee injury

Campbell (Fraizer)          Knee injury

Gordon (Craig)               Knee injury

Meyler (David)               Knee injury

O'Shea (John)                 Hamstring injury

Richardson (Kieran)        Groin Injury

Most likely starting lineup for Sunderland next weekend:

                                                    22 Simon Mignolet

2 Phil Bardsley    5 Wes Brown     29 Anton Ferdinand     11 Kieran Richardson

7 Sebastian Larsson    14 Jack Colback        6 Lee Cattermole   28 Stephane Sessegnon

                                                8 Craig Gardner

3 Asamoah Gyan

Steve Bruce looks to have a strong squad this year and it’s going to be interesting to watch them this year and see if they can fight for European spot. I don’t think they will, but I might be wrong on this one. I think players like Gyan, Sessegnon, Wickham and Larsson can be a big impact for Sunderland and the premiership this season. My prediction is Sunderland to finish in 9^th place.