Tony Mowbray‘s Sunderland are back in action in the Championship tonight as they face off against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
They head into this game off the back of a 1-0 win over Reading at the Stadium of Light at the weekend thanks to a late winner from Patrick Roberts, but even their win may not result in an unchanged starting XI.
The head coach revealed ahead of tonight’s clash that he may look to make some alterations to his side due to the busy schedule of fixtures coming up.
The Sunderland boss stated: “I think we might look to change a couple of things. You have to be careful, you can’t change your whole team, but I think there’s a few players that while they’re not really underperforming, they’re maybe not quite at the heights they would be if they were only playing one game a week.”
How will Sunderland line-up against QPR?
With Mowbray’s comments in mind, here is how we predict the Black Cats will line-up tonight…
We predict that Mowbray will make three changes to his starting XI from the win over Reading, and one of those is the introduction of Pierre Ekwah in the heart of midfield.
Dan Neil has already started eight matches in 2023 and recorded a Sofascore rating of 6.7 or lower in each of his last three appearances, having rated at 7.0 or higher in his three outings prior to that.
This suggests that his form has taken a minor dip in recent weeks, and affording him a rest by unleashing the “all-action” Ekwah – as he was dubbed by journalist Jonty Colman – seems like a wise course of action, as it would allow Neil to rest up on the bench.
Another player whose performances have dropped off slightly is wide attacker Amad Diallo. The on-loan forward has failed to provide a goal or an assist in his last four outings and has not created a single chance, whilst giving possession away 33 times, in his last two Championship matches against Millwall and Reading.
Does Amad need a rest?
Therefore, Mowbray could jettison the talented youngster for this game and go with the experience of Alex Pritchard, who has created 1.9 chances per match in the division, in the number ten role.
Finally, Football FanCast published an article explaining why the Sunderland manager should unleash January signing Isaac Lihadji from the start on the left wing in place of Jack Clarke. The Frenchman has the potential to excite supporters with his play out wide, having set up four goals in two starts in Ligue 1 last term.
