MATCH PREVIEW: SUNDERLAND V BURNLEY (2024)

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Clarets head to the North East to take on the Black Cats

2024-08-23T19:00:00.000Z

MATCH PREVIEW: SUNDERLAND V BURNLEY (2024)

Clarets head to the North East to take on the Black Cats

2024-08-23T19:00:00.000Z

Clarets head to the North East to take on the Black Cats

Burnley travel to the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon (3pm) as Scott Parker's side take on Sunderland in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Clarets will be aiming to continue their magnificent start to the 2024/25 campaign, which has seen Burnley take six points from the opening two fixtures.

Parker's side have scored the most goals (9) in the league so far in the early stages of the season, but will come up against a Sunderland side who have also won their opening two matches.

Burnley added two new additions this week with the defensive duo of Joe Worrall and Bashir Humphreys arriving from Nottingham Forest and Chelsea respectively.

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How to watch

Tickets for the trip to the Stadium of Light are completely sold out and unavailable to purchase.

The game will not be shown live on any UK broadcast channel but to find out the EFL rightsholders countries showing the game live click here.

Live audio commentary will be available as usual via Clarets+ from 2:45pm on the day.

Full match highlights, goals and interviews will be available to view after the match on Clarets+ and across all social media channels.

Click here to view all our Clarets+ packages.

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The opposition

10 consecutive seasons in the Premier League came to an end for Sunderland in 2017 following relegation to the Championship.

Following just a season in the second tier, the Black Cats found themselves in League One with back-to-back relegations.

After three attempts to get out of the third tier and four managers later, Sunderland achieved it at the fourth time of asking via the play-offs in 2022.

The North East side secured a play-off place on their return to the Championship under Tony Mowbray, but missed out on the play-off final, after losing to eventual winners Luton in the semi-finals.

A disappointing 16th place finish last season for a young Sunderland side saw a summer of change at the Stadium of Light as Frenchman Regis Le Bris was appointed boss in July.

Incoming transfers saw the experience of Alan Browne join from Preston North End, Ian Poveda sign from Leeds United and goalkeeper Simon Moore arrive from Coventry City.

Departures saw the likes of long-serving midfielders Elliot Embleton and Corry Evans leave, with Bradley Dack returning to Gillingham, Jacki Diamond signing for Stockport County and midfielder Jay Matete move to Bolton on loan.

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In the dugout

After playing for the likes of Stade Rennais and Stade Lavallois, Regis Le Bris began his managerial career in 2004 when the Frenchman was appointed as a youth coach for Wasquehal, before making the move shortly after to Rennes in a similar role.

Le Bris spent eight years working within the academy as a coach with Rennes, which saw him win the Championnat National U19 in 2007 and the Coupe Gambardella 12 months later.

2012 saw him leave Rennes and became Head of Youth Development at Lorient, before being appointed boss of the reserves side later that same year.

During his time at Lorient, Le Bris coached the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Ilian Meslier and many other, who went on to play in the Premier League and first tier football around the world.

Following a successful spell within the academy, he became Head Coach of Lorient's first team in May 2022 and guided the club to a 10th place finish in Ligue 1 in his first year.

After Lorient were relegated to Ligue 2 last season, Le Bris joined Sunderland this summer on a three-year deal as Head Coach.

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Last time we met

31/03/2023 – Burnley 0 – 0 Sunderland (Turf Moor)

Burnley: Muric, Roberts, Beyer, Harwood-Bellis, Maatsen, Cullen, Brownhill ©, Zaroury (Gudmundsson 66), Benson (Vitinho 83) Tella, Barnes (Obafemi 79)

Unused substitutes: Peacock-Farrell, Cork, Ekdal, Twine

Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Batth, O’Nien, Neil, Ekwah (Michut 64), Roberts, Clarke, Gooch, Pritchard, Gelhardt (Diallo 64)

Unused substitutes: Bass, Cirkin, Ba, Lihadji, Anderson

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What Scott Parker said

"It's a tough place to go as a player with 40,000 people in the stadium. They are a young and dynamic team who have got off to a really good start, but we go there under no illusions of the test we will face.

"They have won two games, they have some talented players, a new coach and we know the danger that they can pose and what they are capable of.

"It's a brilliant test for us, this early on in the season, every test is good to see where we are and learn more about the group and this weekend brings another different challenge for us, but we'll be prepared for it."