* Championship. Today: Black Cats v The Lions. 12:30 *

r00fie1

r00fie1

Well-known member
Saturday 3rd December. Stadium of **** 12:30 hrs K/O.

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This is only the 6th league meeting between the two since 2004 - and only the third since 2017!
In 2017 the Mackems managed a 2-2 draw at their place - in front of a crowd just over 27, 000.
Both Millwall goals that day were scored by George Saville on the 16th and 20th minutes.
Lewis Grabban [remember him?] was one of the two Sun`lun goal-scorers that day.


Table
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One place below us - on goals scored - means a win for Millwall, in 6th place, would be the preferred result.
Last time out, the Mackems narrowly beat Birmingham City away at St Andrews.
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They were leading 2-0 but Lucas Jutkiewicz scored in the 78th minute, which lead to a very nervy end of the game. For Sunlun, Matete was booked for time-wasting in the 88th minute and Clarke was booked for tripping in the 7th minute of added time. Today presents quite a challenge - with Millwall in 6th, experiencing their usual good start to the season.

Form:
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Sunderland have scored 5 goals out of the last 4, but are struggling to maintain any consistency. Compare this to Boro`s 9 in 4 - conceding only three: its no surprise we are above current leaders Burnley and Sheffield United in the form table. Burnley have scored ten, but leaked eight in the last four! Sheffield United, on the other hand, lost 1-0 to Rotherham following their trancing of Burnley, but could only manage a draw v Cardiff - a Baldock goal on the 64th minute securing all three points.


Top Scorer

Sunderland`s Ross Stewart - is a doubt for today with a thigh injury and has been absent since August. A big miss with 5 in 7, and three assists. His continuing absence doesnt bode well for the Mackems. Stewarts future may be in doubt - but hes got a lot to do to match our Chuba!
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But will he be there come the end of the season?

Compare:

Mackems v Boro

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Last edited:
www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray hopes for exciting second half of the season

With key players returning from injury, Tony Mowbray says the future looks bright for Sunderland in the second half of the season
www.chroniclelive.co.uk www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Tony Mowbray hopes for exciting second half of the season as Sunderland prepare to resume campaign​

With key players returning from injury, Tony Mowbray says the future looks bright for Sunderland in the second half of the season
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[Mogga wearing that badge!]
Tony Mowbray predicts 'exciting times ahead' as Sunderland prepare for the second half of their Championship campaign. The Black Cats have enjoyed a solid start as they returned to the second tier and went into the World Cup break in lower mid-table after 20 games, despite being hampered by a series of injury problems.

Their season resumes this lunch time when Millwall visit the Stadium of Light and, with players such as Lynden Gooch and Aji Alese fit again, and with key man Ross Stewart also close to a return, Mowbray is hopeful that the club can perform better in the second half of the season than it did in the first. He is wary of building up expectations too much and points out the gulf between the resources of a club like Sunderland who have won promotion from League One and those such as Norwich City, Burnley, and Watford who were relegated from the Premier League..

But he believes his squad has a good balance which bodes well for the remainder of the season. "I hope it will be exciting times ahead," said Mowbray.
"I don't want to build a platform that we can't achieve because, if you put it into context, it is still a team that came out of League One - and that finished fifth in League One and won the play-offs, it's not as though they ran away with the division and had huge momentum going forward.

"What is the jump between League One and the Championship? It's quite big, because you have three teams [in the Championship] who have come out of the Premier League with salaries and experienced players who have played at a much, much, higher level.

"From the Premier League to League One is a chasm, there's a huge gap. I think the team has done really, really well. I'm quite excited by the balance of the team because we have some really good, technical, footballers. And when we get the power and pace at both ends of the pitch, at the back and at the front, allied to the technical ability we have got, the balance is good.

"There are some really young, inexperienced, footballers who are really talented, and some lads who are in the their 30s or just touching their 30s who have experience of the league and what it takes, and the combination of the two will give us a platform to put teams on the pitch that will win games in this league."
 
Preview

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The World Cup break means Sunderland haven’t played competitively since beating Birmingham 2-1 last month, but defender Aji Alese believes they’ve benefitted from the interval.
1670059366438.pngThe Black Cats defender stated that this period “gave an opportunity for some of us to get back to fitness” as he made his own return from a six-week injury lay off in 1-0 victory over Al-Shabab, as part of a warm weather training camp in Dubai. (?!)

He’s now hoping to line-up against Millwall, who visit the Stadium of Light in a rearranged game following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Despite sitting just four points above the dropzone coming into this fixture, Sunderland know a win here will lift them into the top half of the Championship table, although they’ve picked up only two victories in nine home league matches this season (D4, L3) so they’ll hope the reset button has been firmly pressed.

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The Lions have also used the last three weeks as a chance to get some of their injured players back up to speed, with defender Shaun Hutchinson managing 45 minutes in a 1-1 friendly draw against Danish outfit Brøndby IF. That game barely whetted the appetite for manager Gary Rowett though, who admits he just wants to “get to Sunderland” after so long without a competitive match.

It’s no surprise that Millwall are eager to restart their Championship campaign, given they had lost just one of their previous nine league contests before the interval (W5, D3) with their latest victory, a 4-2 win at Preston, pushing them into sixth place in the table. They must surely improve their away form if they are going to be promoted back to the top flight for the first time since 1990 though, as that victory at Deepdale was just their second on the road in all competitions this season (D3, L6).

Key battle:
Sunderland defender Danny Batthhas picked up his joint-most career yellow cards against Millwall, being cautioned four times and winning just once in ten meetings (D5, L4).
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He will attempt to thwart Zian Flemming, who has netted half of the Lions’ ten away goals this season, while his five goalscoring appearances (home or away) have each seen him hit the first or last goal of the match.
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* Hot stat: Millwall have scored first in only two of their last 14 competitive away fixtures, which resulted in their only two victories on the road during that period (D5, L7).

SUN - MIL | Sunderland - Millwall

www.flashscore.co.uk www.flashscore.co.uk
 
Reminder: Boro v Deckchairs - Last Time Out.

Boro win 1-0
[ World Cup Player - McGree. 15 mins]

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Half watching whilst reading a book.
Got loads of pages read, bloody awful.
Millwall being Millwall big boot from free kicks upto giant to nod down. Sunderland clueless only one shot on target.
HT now don't think I'll bother with second half.
 
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