Sunderland are on a quest to return to the Premier League and in the early stages, it is going swimmingly well.
The Black Cats have won four of their last five matches and the most recent punishment they handed out – a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday – has propelled them into fourth position after nine matches.
Tony Mowbray’s side put in a truly domineering display at Hillsborough, recording 68% possession, six shots on target, an xG of 1.57 and accurately completing 91% of their passes, as per Sofascore.
If Sunderland can translate that level of performance into their fixture against Watford this evening, the visitors could be in trouble.
The Hornets have conceded three goals in each of their last two matches as defeats against Leeds United and Middlesbrough have highlighted their defensive frailties that the likes of Jack Clarke and Mason Burstow will be looking to exploit.
Ahead of this Championship clash, Mowbray has had to deal with a worrying pile up of injury concerns with a few key players absent.
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During his pre-match press conference, the veteran manager revealed that an undisclosed key player’s injury could cause the team sheet to look drastically different this evening.
Sunderland were originally expecting to be without Timothee Pembele, Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese, Cory Evans, Pierre Ekwah, and Bradley Dack, but the injury list appears to have grown even longer.
Refusing to reveal who had sustained an injury following Wednesday’s win, Mowbray stated that the player would be a major loss going into their encounter against Watford.
“Without giving too much away, we had to make some tactical changes today,” he explained.
“You’ll see the team when it comes out, but there’s a big difference with the injury that’s been picked up.”
Whoever is missing will require someone to step up and be counted in their absence, much like Alex Pritchard has more than replaced the injured Bradley Dack with a streak of outstanding performances.
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In football, a lot can happen in a short amount of time, and Pritchard’s
He said: “I don’t want to get too prescriptive about it, but it looks like Pritch is going to leave the football club. We have to move past that, we have to move on – that’s football.”
With Mowbray consigned to losing his attacking midfielder, the 30-year-old was expected to find another club but a deal to lure him away from Wearside never materialised, and the former Tottenham man remained at the club after the deadline.
Having come off the bench in each of the first six Championship matches, Pritchard would get his chance to shine after Pierre Ekwah hobbled off with an injury against Queens Park Rangers, and it’s an opportunity that the Englishman has welcomed with open arms.
