Ewood Park, Blackburn, Britain - October 18, 2022. Sunderland's Patrick Roberts applauds fans after the match.
Reporter Joe Nicholson believes Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts will be involved for Sunderland against their former club this Sunday.
The Lowdown: Looking to get back to winning ways
Sunderland will be hoping they can bounce back and get themselves out of their recent slump in form that has seen them win just twice in the past nine matches, but heading to Carrow Road won’t be easy.
The Black Cats will be coming up against one of the in-form sides in the division on Sunday, with the Canaries having not lost any of their previous five games, scoring 11 goals in the process.
Tony Mowbray will be hopeful of some former Norwich players going back to haunt their old side on Sunday, with both Roberts and Pritchard remembered for their time in Norfolk.
The Latest: Roberts and Pritchard to be involved
While Roberts has indeed been more involved than Pritchard this season in terms of starts, Nicholson has admitted on The Roar podcast he expects both to play some part in the game on Sunday.
He said: “They’re two players that we’d probably expect to be involved. Whether they both start, Pritchard’s coming in and out the side the last couple of weeks, Roberts has been starting pretty consistently, so expect probably him to start as well.”
The Verdict: Sunderland need to put in a good performance
While winning and stopping the rot of three consecutive defeats is hugely important this weekend for Sunderland, their fans will be desperate for their team to put in a good performance and show they still care about this season.
Last weekend, they were torn apart by Stoke City as the Potters hammered Sunderland 5-1 at the Stadium of Light, and now with them seemingly not close enough to the play-offs or the relegation zone to have much going on in the final few weeks of the season, they’re in danger of seeing their season fizzle out.
However, if they can compete against an in-form and expensively assembled Norwich squad, their fans could regain hope that they’re at least heading in the right direction under Mowbray, and with players such as Roberts and Pritchard looking to prove Norwich wrong for letting them go, they could yet be hopeful of a decent display.
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