Sunderland Must Put Brighton Loss Right With Europa League Trip

Sunderland travel to Portuguese second tier outfit SCU Torreense in the Europa League on Thursday afternoon, just a few days after their deflating Premier League defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Sunderland fell to a 2-0 defeat to Brighton, with Maxim De Cuyper and substitute Jaouen Hadjam on the scoresheet for the Seagulls, who had a man sent off between the two goals with Pascal Struijk's rightful dismissal for a foul on Wilson Isidor.

In their first outing following the international break, it was a substandard performance from Sunderland against Fabian Hurzeler's side, with the Black Cats looking out of creative ideas in possession whilst also being uncharacterisitcally dishevelled in defence.

Often in football, the best thing to remedy a subpar defeat is another game in quick succession to right the wrongs of the previous loss, and this is something Sunderland must do in Portugal on Thursday afternoon.

Sunderland head into the Europa League trip to SCU Torreense as firm favourites, with the Black Cats' first European away fixture in over five decades coming against a side sat 15th in the Portuguese second division.

The main objective for Regis Le Bris' side within the clash will be ultimately to win, and continue their European momentum following the curtain-raising 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar before the international break, but also to win in style.

Following that historic win over the Eredivisie high-flyers, Sunderland have lost three consecutive Premier League games, with prideful defeats to Arsenal and Manchester City coming before the break and then the more deflating Brighton beating last time out on Saturday.

With the Brighton defeat at the forefront of Sunderland minds heading into the clash, the Black Cats must improve defensively and offensively against Torreense to show that the Seagulls performance was just a blip and not a sign of things to come.

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On Thursday, it should be high on Le Bris' agenda for the Black Cats to secure a clean sheet against the Portuguese outfit, who did beat Norwegian outfit Lillestrøm 2-1 on the road in their opening Europa League fixture, meaning they will be hoping for a major upset against Premier League Sunderland.

More so, Le Bris admitted after Brighton that Sunderland must be better in the final third, and that cutting edge in attack will be imperative to break down the inevitable low-block of Torreense, who do yield a lower goals conceded per match average rate than the Black Cats so far this season.

Le Bris and his Black Cats squad will be desperate for victory on Thursday within the potential banana skin fixture, and it is imperative that Sunderland do not slip up again as they did against the Seagulls and momentously kickstart their campaign with a resounding, confidence-building win.