Granit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka has made a big impression for Sunderland since arriving in the summer
6:43PM
Hello and welcome to the final match of the Premier League weekend as high-flying Sunderland welcome Everton to the Stadium of Light.
The Wearsiders have five league wins from nine games, including a 2-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last week. They sit 7th in the table and a win tonight would move them up to second, behind Arsenal. But manager Regis Le Bris warned of the dangers posed by the visitors.
“They are good, a bit inconsistent but with the ability to score, to win against everyone, I think,” Le Bris told a press conference.
“There is an evolution in their squad so it’s still tough - too many new players with different styles of play and with the collective project, but they are doing well.
“They have many strengths. Strong wingers, the ability to go direct, they defend properly and are strong on set-pieces so another tough challenge.”
Meanwhile, Everton boss David Moyes was full of praise for the way his former club have adapted to league since their promotion.
“I don’t think it was just their performance at Chelsea,” Moyes said. “I think the performance all season been really, really good.
“I think lot of people have been surprised by it, but they’ve got a great crowd behind them, they’ve been really strong at home as well. But obviously winning at Chelsea for anybody is a big result.”
The Stamford Bridge triumph was a fifth win of the season for Sunderland, who have the best points tally of a promoted after nine games in 17 years.
“It’s going back a little bit because the last recent years there’s been a lot of media talk about how they how the promoted sides tend to go down,” Moyes said.
“I think it sounds as if a lot of them have been listening to that and spent a lot of money, tried to make sure that they give themselves every opportunity to stay up.
“I think that Sunderland, Leeds, Burnley are all doing that at the moment. Over recent years it’s not been easy for the promoted teams to do that, but this year they’re having a right good go at it.”