Sunderland Vs Lech Poznan - How Have Europa League Opponents Fared This Season?

Sunderland travel to Polish champions Lech Poznan for another Europa League away fixture following last week's comeback win over SCU Torreense.

Last time out in Europe, Sunderland came back from a goal behind to beat the Portuguese second tier side 2-1, courtesy of an equalising header from Jules Ahoka midway through the second half, and an emphatic injury-time winning strike from Noah Sadiki, to see the DR Congo duo both open their Black Cats accounts in timely fashion.

However, Regis Le Bris' side head to Poznan on the back of their worst performance of the season thus far in the 2-0 Premier League defeat at Bournemouth, in which Sunderland made cataclysmic errors at the back and looked out of ideas in attack.

Therefore, the Black Cats will need to right the wrongs from the Cherries defeat against the Ekstraklasa giants, who certainly will not be an easy opponent for Sunderland to navigate as Le Bris' side search for their successive Europa League win of the campaign.

Here, SunderlandRoundtable take a deep dive for Black Cats fans into how Lech Poznan have fared this season in the Polish top flight and in European competition ahead of Thursday's fixture.

With Sunderland sitting at the bottom of the Premier League, upcoming Europa League opponents Poznan have fared much better in their domestic league, currently sitting second in the Ekstraklasa, just one point behind leaders Gornik Zabrze.

In the league, reigning champions Poznan have won eight of their opening ten outings, drawing once and losing once, scoring the highest amount of goals in the Polish top flight thus far with an impressive 27 tally whilst conceding just nine, leaving them with an 18 goal difference.

However, within the Europa League, Niels Frederiksen's side have severely struggled for form, with two defeats from their first two European outings leaving Poznan bottom of the standings.

Poznan have already faced elite English opposition this season, with Crystal Palace handing the Polish champions a bruising 4-0 defeat in September at Selhurst Park, in which midfielder Radoslaw Murawski was sent off in the late minutes, conceding a penalty that was converted by Eddie Nketiah.

Last time out in Europe, Poznan's losing streak in the competition continued, with last week's heavy defeat against Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka's former side, Bayer Leverkusen.

Once again, Poznan were beaten 4-0, conceding two first half penalties within the game that were both converted by Leverkusen striker Patrick Schick, to see the Enea Stadion outfit fall to the foot of the Europa League after the opening two outings.

Clearly, the Poznan defence has been struggling against Europa League opposition with eight goals conceded in two games, with their attackers also misfiring as Frederiksen's side still search for their first goal of the European campaign.

Therefore, this should breed confidence in Le Bris' team, who are in desperate need of a commanding win to kickstart their faltering domestic season, and continue their winning start to life in the Europa League.