Sunderland v Middlesbrough
Sunday 21 August
Stadium of Light
1.30pm
Middlesbrough
Goalkeepers: Former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes is expected to start Sunday’s Wear-Tees derby at the Stadium of Light. The Spaniard spent the bulk of his career playing for the Catalans making almost 400 appearances during which time he won six league titles, three UEFA Champions League trophies and a host of other major accolades. He’s also won the World Cup and European Championships with Spain while lifting the Belgian Cup while on loan at Standard Liege last season. Valdes, 34, made his Boro debut in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Stoke City. The Teesiders also have Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, Brad Guzan and Tomas Mejias on their books.
Defence: Middlesbrough will be captained by George Friend who has been at the club since 2012. The left back started his career with Exeter City before spending two years with Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the majority of his time at Molineux spent out on loan. Friend joined Boro from Doncaster Rovers and has since made over 157 appearances, captaining them to promotion last season. Summer signing Antonio Barragan could operate alongside Ben Gibson in the centre having made his debut last weekend following a move from Valencia. Barragan started his career on Merseyside with Liverpool, as did fellow defender Daniel Ayala who could return from injury to face the Black Cats. Emilio Nsue started in the right-back berth against Stoke with Brazilian defender Fabio signing from Cardiff City earlier this week.
Midfield: Middlesbrough have a number of options in the centre of midfield but Marten de Roon will miss out due to a hamstring injury. The Dutchman signed from Italian side Atalanta in the summer and made his debut last weekend alongside Adam Clayton, but he was quickly replaced by Adam Forshaw. Stuart Downing and Albert Adomah featured on the wings, and Downing, who spent time on loan on Wearside, isn’t the only former Black Cat within the Boro ranks with injured Grant Leadbitter also in Aitor Karanka’s squad.
Attack: Alvaro Negredo led the line for Boro during their opening game against Stoke and the Spaniard made an immediate impression. With just 11 minutes on the clock Negredo bundled home Gaston Ramirez’s headed cut-back to send the home crowd into ecstasy. The former Manchester City striker scored 23 goals during his only season at the Etihad Stadium, with Jordan Rhodes and David Nugent also vying for a starting berth. Ramirez, who joined on a permanent deal in the summer following a successful loan, is set to feature as the number ten.
Manager: Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka enjoyed an impressive playing career and he’s already forging a stellar reputation in management. Born in Vitoria, Karanka started his career within Athletic Bilbao’s academy and B team before going onto make over 100 appearances for the first team. A move to Real Madrid followed in 1997 and during a five-year spell in the capital he won the UEFA Champions League three times and the league title once. He returned to Bilbao in 2002 before ending his playing career in 2006 with Colorado Rapids, working as coach with Spain’s under-16 side until 2010 when he became Real Madrid’s assistant manager. After three years at the Bernabeu he took charge of Middlesbrough and after narrowly missing out on promotion in 2015 Premier League football was ensured in 2016.
Team news
Middlesbrough
Daniel Ayala (ankle) could return after starting for Boro’s under-23s earlier this week, but Marten de Roon (hamstring), Bernardo Espinosa (knee) and Grant Leadbitter (hernia) are set to miss out.
Youngster James Husband is also unavailable due to a shoulder injury.
Sunderland
Seb Larsson is facing up to six months out due to a knee injury with David Moyes revealing Lee Cattermole might need a hernia operation following last weekend’s defeat at Manchester City.
Papy Djilobodji could make his Sunderland debut and updates on Jan Kirchhoff and Billy Jones will be on safc.com later this week.
Last time out
Manchester City 2-1 Sunderland
David Moyes’ first Premier League game as Sunderland manager ended in defeat as Manchester City struck late on to seal a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.
Sunderland threatened to tear up the script and gate-crash Pep’s party on the opening day of the campaign, with Jermain Defoe cancelling out Sergio Aguero’s early penalty on 71 minutes.
But the drama was far from over and with 87 minutes played, a Paddy McNair own goal saw the Black Cats’ battling defence breached and it proved pivotal as City held on to seal a dramatic three points in Manchester.
Middlesbrough 1-1 Stoke City
Xherdan Shaqiri's free-kick earned Stoke City a point as Middlesbrough were denied a deserved victory on their return to the Premier League.
Boro went ahead when two of 10 signings made since winning promotion combined - Alvaro Negredo bundling in Gaston Ramirez's headed cut-back.
Ramirez hit the post with a low shot and struck the bar directly from a corner as Boro continued strongly, but Shaqiri's effort went in off the upright to level with 25 minutes left.
Form (Premier League 2016-17 only)
Sunderland: L
Middlesbrough: D
