Sunderland Predicted Starting XI For Lech Poznan Clash Amid Early Injury News

Sunderland return to action following their bruising defeat at Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon with their Europa League clash at Polish champions Lech Poznan.

Regis Le Bris' side head into the European fixture following a deflating 2-0 defeat against the Cherries, which saw Sunderland slump to the bottom of the Premier League table with four consecutive league defeats.

However, in the Europa League, fortunes are more favourable for the Black Cats, with Sunderland two wins from two after their curtain-raising home win against Eredivisie giants AZ Alkmaar and last week's comeback win over Portuguese second division side SCU Torreense.

Given the injury-time winner last time out in the Europa League and the shocking performance at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, Le Bris' selection decisions will be imperative to help kickstart Sunderland's subpar start to the season.

Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, O'Nien, Methalie, Ahoka, Sadiki, Diarra, Angulo, Fofana, Tutierov

Le Bris needs to make several changes to his Sunderland starting XI following the horror show at Bournemouth, particularly in defence.

However, one has seemingly been enforced on the Black Cats head coach, with early team news outlining that Omar Alderete has not travelled to Poznan with the Sunderland squad, likely due to an injury issue.

Alderete, as well as Kevin Danso, made several glaring errors against Bournemouth on Sunday, meaning that both should drop out of the starting line-up for the game, with Le Bris yet to confirm the extent of the Paraguayan's knock.

Therefore, it stands to reason that Le Bris would start both Nordi Mukiele and Luke O'Nien together in central defence, to hopefully stop the Black Cats' leaky defence of late.

Dayann Methalie was solid against Torreense and deserves to continue his role at left-back in European games, with Trai Hume needed in his natural right-back position, rather than in a more advanced right midfield role.

In midfield, Jules Ahoka deserves another Europa League start after his impressive display against SCU Torreense, in which he scored the equaliser with a deft header to open his red-and-white account.

Alongside the DR Congo starlet, his compatriot Noah Sadiki will likely retain his place, and Le Bris could grant fit-again Habib Diarra his first start of the season after the Senegelase talent returned from injury with his cameo off the bench at Bournemouth.

In attack, it will be interesting to see how the Sunderland boss plays things.

Against Torreense, he started Malick Fofana on the left and Nilson Angulo on the right flank, with both failing to impress before being withdrawn on the hour-mark, seeing Sunderland secure the comeback after the wide attacking duo left the field.

Sunderland must rediscover attacking output from wide areas, and Poznan could provide the platform for both Fofana and Angulo to find some form, with Le Bris also having playmaker Enzo Le Fee to turn to for a creative spark as he did in Portugal.

Up-front, the question for Le Bris will be whether young forward Timur Tutierov, who performed admirably against Torreense but was bullied out of the game at Bournemouth, has done enough to retain his place in the starting XI.

Or, whether Wilson Isidor or Brian Brobbey are fit to start the game, given that both were absentees on the south coast last time out.

Isidor has been working individually in training before the fixture, with Brobbey returning to full training with the Sunderland squad, but was excluded on Sunday as Le Bris takes a cautious approach with the Dutchman's return.

Regardless of who plays in the number nine role or elsewhere for Sunderland, nothing less than an emphatic win is acceptable given the current context of their season, with one eye on the visit of Leeds United in the Premier League just three days after Poznan.

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