Sunderland vs Burnley preview: Referee, team news, recent form and opposition view
The Black Cats suffered a harsh 2-0 defeat away at Blackburn on Tuesday evening, while the Clarets faced Birmingham at St. Andrews on Wednesday night, and came away with a 1-1 draw.
Tony Mowbray refused to blame referee Craig Pawson for the two errors that cost his side against his former club.
Mowbray explained: “I haven’t seen either of the incidents, but I've been told about them.
“The bench was saying it was a stonewall penalty, but the referee was adamant that it wasn’t. What do you do?
“We could have been 1-0 up with a penalty but then it was 21 seconds later, Sky tell me, that we were 1-0 down”.
Mowbray knows his team needs to be more clinical in front of goal with the amount of possession and chances they create, knowing they are currently without injured strikers, Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms.
“It was a bit déjà vu for us, dominating possession but not having the key component you need to win any football match – we've been without them (strikers) for six or seven games now.
“There was a lots of good stuff, and I said to the players that if they keep going and creating chances, then when we get our strikers back, we will win lots of football matches, when we have a centre forward with the capabilities of Ross Stewart. We have to keep going and keep believing, and in the meantime, we have to find ways to be more ruthless.
“Jack Clarke has to pull the trigger more often. Is there a better player in this league than Patrick Roberts? I don’t think so”.
The North East side will need to make the Stadium of Light a fortress knowing they only have one league defeat at home so far with the rest being draws, but this hasn’t stopped all the loyal fans coming back and supporting the lads.
Burnley will be the favourites going into the game, although they have never won at the Stadium of Light.
Team News:
Sunderland will be without Aji Alese for three to four weeks after he suffered an ankle injury against Blackburn Rovers, while Lynden Gooch is also a doubt after picking up a knock against Wigan Athletic.
Burnley will be hoping that Ian Maatsen and Jordan Beyer will be available for Saturday’s game after they were both left out against Birmingham after suffering minor injuries.
Scott Twine, Darko Churlinov and Ashley Westwood are still sidelined with injury, although Johann Berg Gudmundsson will be pushing to start after his long-range goal in midweek.
Last meeting:
The two teams last faced each other in the League Cup in August 2019, where Sunderland prevailed 3-1 winners at Turf Moor with goals from Will Grigg, Tom Flanagan and George Dobson.
Sunderland team: Burge, McLaughlin, Flanagan, Baldwin, Hume, Dobson, McGeouch, Gooch, Embleton, O’Nien, Grigg
Recent form:
Sunderland: DDLWL
Burnley: DDWWD
Sunderland vs Burnley head-to-head (Last 10 matches)
Sunderland wins: 4
Draws: 3
Burnley wins: 3
Referee: Tim Robinson
Tim Robinson will take charge of this game having refereed 37 games over the last 12 months and issuing 154 yellow cards.
Robinson oversaw Sunderland vs Norwich in August 2022, as the Canaries took all three points back to Norfolk and remain the only side to beat the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light.
He will be assisted by Paul Hodskinson and Nigel Lugg, with Ross Joyce acting as the fourth official.
Opposition view: Vincent Kompany
Vincent Kompany is expecting a tough match ahead of their trip to the North East to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Kompany said: "I guess (for them) it's been a bit like everyone so far (this season) with ups and downs. It's a totally different style than what we faced on Wednesday at Birmingham, and i think this could be a good game for the fans.
"They're a bit hit on both sides of the coin, missing centre halves and missing centre forwards, but when you change your personnel, you usually don't change your habits."
"For us, it's to focus on what we've been able to see and ourselves well, of course."