Sunderland face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Cherries will be hoping to extend their current unbeaten run of seven top flight outings against Regis Le Bris’ injury-hit visitors, and are set to come up against an attack that will be without its de facto focal point, Brian Brobbey.
The Dutchman was one of a number of Sunderland players to pick up a knock during last Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Fulham, and as such, is expected to be sidelined for between two and four weeks.
In his absence, it is assumed that Le Bris will opt for either Isidor or Mayenda through the middle, and to that end, Iraola took some time out of his pre-match press conference on Friday morning to speak about the Black Cats duo.
What has Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said about Sunderland pair Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda?
He said: “I think both of them are very fast players. Isidor and Mayenda are a little bit different. Mayenda has played also outside as a second striker, Isidor is a reference up front. He started against us in the first game also.
“He was so good last season for them. For me, he's a very good striker. Very good striker. Physicality is there. The threat in behind is always there, with Mayenda the same. He's left-footed, but they have still a big threat there.
“It's a different kind of threat to Brobbey. Brobbey is probably more dangerous inside the box. He's strong, but I think Isidor and Mayenda are big threats because they are fast, good athletes. This is the Premier League - you are going to always face very good number nines.”
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Iraola also reflected on Bournemouth’s last meeting with Sunderland, during which they squandered a two-goal lead at the Stadium of Light, eventually losing 3-2. He said: “[It was] One of the hardest results, probably of the season, because I think we were in a very difficult place. They hadn't lost any game in that moment at home.
“We started really strong in the game and I think they turned the game after a penalty. For me it's never a penalty, but even with that we were still winning 2-1 and they found a way to change the game, to punish us. Second half, two set-plays, a corner and a lateral free-kick.
“There are threats that we will have to deal with tomorrow because they are a team that has very good, especially offensive set-plays, so we have to deal much better with these situations. Also, we play them now in a moment where they recover Granit Xhaka, who I think is fundamental in their team, and I think they've noticed when he has been out. Now they will recover him and for sure they will improve the results again. But we have to be ready and I hope we can do better than we did in the first half.”
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