Sunderland will look to maintain their unbeaten start to the league phase of the Europa League on Thursday night as they welcome record Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland’s poor start to the Premier League season continued at the weekend, as they fell to a 3-1 defeat away at newly-promoted Coventry City.
That’s now five defeats from their last six Premier League clashes for Regis Le Bris’ men (W0-D1-L5), meaning they sit at the foot of the table, two points adrift of safety.
However, the Black Cats have made a solid start to their Europa League campaign, as back-to-back wins at home to AZ and away at Torreense were followed by a 1-1 draw away at Lech Poznan.
Dinamo Zagreb picked up four points from their opening two league phase matches (W1-D1-L0), but suffered defeat on MD3 as they were beaten 2-4 at home to NEC.
The record Croatian champions also suffered a surprise defeat at Rudes over the weekend, leaving them four points adrift of Croatian leaders Hajduk Split – albeit with a game on hand – ultimately leading to the departure of manager Mario Kovacevic.
How the bookies view it: Sunderland favourites
Sunderland are favourites to make it three wins from four in the league phase of the Europa League, with bet365 pricing a home win at 12/25.
Dinamo Zagreb are 5/1 underdogs to leave the Stadium of Light with all three points, whilst the draw is 15/4.
Head to head: First-ever meeting
It will come as no surprise that Thursday’s clash at the Stadium of Light will be the first-ever meeting between these two clubs.
Players to watch: Beljo to bag again?
Dion Beljo has been a goal-scoring machine for Dinamo Zagreb this season, with the big striker scoring 17 goals across his 18 appearances in all competitions.
Five of those goals have come in Europe – including a brace against NEC on MD3 – and the Croatian international is an appealing 15/8 at bet365 to Score or Assist.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Sunderland are missing the injured Daniel Ballard and Romaine Mundle, whilst Habib Diarra, Nordi Mukiele and Juan Angulo are doubts.
Dinamo Zagreb will be without Scotland defender Scott McKenna, whilst Stjepan Radeljic, Fran Topic and Dani Rodriguez are doubts.
Sunderland: Roefs, Hume, O’Nien, Alderete, Reinaldo, Sadiki, Xhaka, Talbi, Le Fee, Fofana, Brobbey
Dinamo Zagreb: Kotarski, Valincic, Galesic, Dominguez, Perez, Vinlof, Misic, Hoxha, Stojkovic, Zajc, Vidovic, Beljo
Anything else catch the eye?
Despite their poor domestic form, Sunderland have performed well in Europe, picking up seven points across their opening three league phase fixtures (W2-D1-L0).
Both of those victories featured fewer than five match goals, and a repeat pays a backable 5/6 at bet365.
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