After a 1-1 draw on the road against Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough, the Black Cats are set to face Plymouth Argyle this weekend. Here’s how I think we’ll do…
LAST TIME OUT
Last time out, Michael Beales side headed to the Riverside and took away a point. Ukrainian striker Nazariy Rusyn scored a late equaliser after Marcus Forss took the lead just after half time with a fierce strike. After losing 4-0 earlier in the season, I’m happy we managed to pick up a point in the reverse fixture.
New Plymouth manager Ian Foster has the Pilgrims 15th in the Championship and has ensured there has been no drop-off since losing Steven Schumacher to Stoke. They’re currently on 36 points from 29 games this season. Since Foster came in, they’ve played six and only lost once – that was against Leeds in the FA Cup on Tuesday night. Argyle will be aiming for a mid-table finish come the end of the season and eight points away from the relegation zone, it looks like they’ll achieve that goal and steer well clear of the drop. They won League One last season with 101 points and have done well to keep that momentum going this campaign.
ONES TO WATCH
The player Sunderland fans will be most familiar with is Bali Mumba, the South Shields-born utility man who has played every Championship game this season for Argyle, scoring twice and assisting another two. Mumba started his career at Sunderland, making his senior debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018 where he was handed the captain's armband for the remaining few minutes. It made him our youngest ever captain at 16.
Since then he’s played for Norwich where he had a loan stint at Argyle, which was made permanent in the summer for their club’s joint-record transfer fee. He’s been ever-present this season and his versatility means he can slot in at either side fullback, centre midfield or on either wing.
Morgan Whittaker is Plymouth’s danger man and was even briefly linked with Lazio this January along with Jack Clarke! Like Mumba, they had him on loan last season and paid £1 million for him in the summer – a deal which, when Whittaker eventually leaves, could see a profit 15x that amount. The winger has 17 goals and six assists this season, making him Plymouth’s obvious main threat.
INJURY UPDATES
Supporters were worried when Dan Ballard went down clutching his shoulder against Boro, but Michael Beale quickly eased our concerns post-match and said the defender looked fine. That being said, we'll have to wait for his latest press conference for the most up-to-date injury news. New arrival Callum Styles had appendix surgery a week before signing and is currently healing and is set to be up for selection for Birmingham away later in February. Bradley Dack suffered a hamstring injury at Hull on Boxing Day and is set to be back by the end of the month says Beale.
LAST TIME OUT
In the reverse fixture back in November, we suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat. In many ways it was the typical Sunderland performance from that time period – toothless up front and sloppy defending led to a bit of a smash-and-grab.
MY PREDICTION
I’m feeling confident for Saturday, I can see the Lads grabbing the three points with a 2-1 win and Jack Clarke and Nazariy Rusyn getting on the scoresheet this weekend. Surely Naz has to start. I’m also hoping Plymouth are exhausted – a combination of their midweek cup fixture going to extra time and the long, long journey to the SoL…
