PREVIEW: Sunderland welcome Burnley looking to bounce back from defeat | OneFootball

Sunderland host relegation-threatened Burnley aiming to return to the top half of the Premier League table at the Stadium of Light.

The hosts impressively remain unbeaten at home, a real contrast to the slight dampener of having won just twice and scoring six goals on their travels.

Burnley ended last seasons campaign 24 point ahead of Sunderland yet currently sit 18 points behind them this season, and find themselves deep in the relegation battle.

Currently occupying 11th place remains a mighty impressive feat for a newly promoted side, who saw 14 new players come through the door at the Stadium of Light.

After losing six first teamers due to the African Cup of Nations, Sunderland hit a slight lull over the new year but only lost once – managing to hold Man City and Leeds to draws and beat Crystal Palace to briefly go as high as seventh.

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris’ confirmed in his pre-match press conference that club captain Granit Xhaka will continue to be absent for the next three weeks as he recovers from an ankle injury sustained against Crystal Palace.

He is joined in the treatment room by winger Bertrand Traore – also is ruled out for three weeks – and January signing Jocelin Ta Bi is still preparing for first team action after arriving from Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Netanya for £3.5m in January.

Draws against Manchester United and Liverpool were a result of strong, impressive performances from Scott Parker’s Burnley.

His side were just two minutes away from securing their first win since October if it wasn’t for a fantastic goal from Spurs captain Cristian Romero two games ago.

Scott Parkers side have struggled to get those three points on the board though, with victories for West Ham and Nottingham Forest extending the gap between them to 11 points.

The Clarets face the challenging task of bringing an abrupt end to Sunderland’s home form, if they are to continue to grow their form and give themselves a fighting chance of making it out of the bottom three come May.

Josh Cullen and Zeki Amdouni both continue to be out with ACL injuries, but striker Zian Flemming – who netted twice in his side’s last victory back in October – is expected to be fit enough for a return on Monday.

Connor Roberts and Jordan Beyer both don’t have a return date yet from Parker but will almost certainly be unavailable for their trip to the Stadium of Light.