Sunderland’s pre-season tour of France is coming to an end with the Black Cats facing Montpellier HSC on Saturday evening before returning to Wearside (KO 6pm local time).
David Moyes’ side have a 100% record in pre-season having previously defeated Hartlepool United, Rotherham United, Stade Nyonnais and Dijon FCO, with the latter providing the biggest test thus far as goals from Joel Asoro, Wahbi Khazri and Fabio Borini sealed a 3-2 win.
And Saturday’s game will once again crank Sunderland’s preparations up a notch.
Formed in 1974, Montpellier are firmly established in the top tier of French football – Ligue 1 – and they even lifted the title in 2012 before Paris Saint Germain’s current period of dominance.
Last season they finished 15th in Ligue 1 with Frédéric Hantz taking charge after Pascal Bails and Bruno Martini left the club, with the coach returning to management for the first time since 2014.
Sunderland will be buoyed by the return of John O’Shea and Seb Larsson with Robbie Stockdale revealing the duo will feature for the first time since Euro 2016.
But the Black Cats will be without Jermain Defoe who is expecting to miss the remainder of pre-season, with Patrick van Aanholt, who will be available for next weekend’s game against Borussia Dortmund, also a doubt.
Saturday’s game will be streamed live with Simon Crabtree and Kevin Ball taking you through all the action.
Just click here to view the live stream, or alternatively follow @SunderlandAFC on Twitter for minute-by-minute coverage.
