James Hunter, Sunderland columnist: The lowdown on the Black Cats' new-look team | OneFootball

Sunderland writer, columnist and podcaster James Hunter has given the lowdown on the Black Cats and their "new-look team" after promotion to the Premier League last season.

Régis Le Bris' side take on Brentford at Stadium of Light on Saturday (3pm kick-off GMT) after a win and a defeat in their opening two games of this term, with a number of their summer signings impressing in both matches.

Sunderland are back in the Premier League after eight seasons away. How does everyone connected with the club feel about being back in the top flight?

Everybody is incredibly excited. Eight years is longer than Sunderland have spent out of the top division in their entire history and quite a bit of that time was spent in League One.

Sunderland fans have had some tough times in recent years, so to finally get back to the Premier League - and in the thrilling, exciting way they did through the play-offs last season - has lit a fire in the people again.

You could see that on the opening weekend, when there was a near-capacity crowd at Stadium of Light, and you could see the way they responded to the way that the team played.

It is a very different, new-look team, and that is something we will move on to.

The thing that has caught the eye is how many new players have been signed this summer. As teams have found out in the past, sometimes that kind of approach doesn't pay off. Is there any concern that could be the case here?

It is a very high-risk approach from the outside. Most Sunderland fans would be happy to admit that most of the players that have come in, they have not heard of. They are unknown quantities, certainly at Premier League level, so it is a bit of a leap of faith.

But, to be honest with you, Sunderland's model, which they used in the Championship and even towards the end in League One, worked in a similar way.

There were very few players that came in that you could hang your hat on and say, ‘This guy will do well in the Championship - he has got a proven, established Championship record.’

It has been very much a case of the recruitment department finding hidden gems.

It has not been without a hiccup. There have been some players who have come and gone and barely played. But, where they have been successful, the signings they have made have worked out incredibly well; players have come in and improved their value and brought something to the team.

The classic example is Nottingham Forest, when they brought in more than 20 players a few years ago. People said it was madness, but they stayed up, built from there and are now playing European football, so it can work.

Sunderland are going down a similar kind of path and have brought in upwards of a dozen new signings; from what the fans have seen of those players so far, they have looked like excellent, quality additions and not out of place or overawed.

A lot of them have also played in top leagues across Europe, so it is not as though they have come from obscure leagues - they are proven at a high level.

Sunderland made the perfect start with a 3-0 win over West Ham United at Stadium of Light, then lost 2-0 at Burnley on Saturday. What have you made of how they have fared so far?

They were excellent against West Ham. There is always the danger on that first day back that you might not live up to the occasion, live up to the billing, but they certainly did that.

West Ham have made a disappointing start, but they are an established Premier League team, and Sunderland certainly made fairly light work of them on the opening day.

There was not much in it in the first half, but in the second half, Sunderland were much the better team and took advantage.

When you then move on to the Burnley game, that is probably reminiscent of what they are going to get in a lot of games this season - apart from playing the teams at the very, very top - they are going to be tight games, settled by individual moments.

If you do not take your chances and the other team does, then you are in trouble. And that is what happened to Sunderland at Burnley.

Sunderland had chances early on against Burnley, could have been 2-0 up after 10 minutes or so, but were not 2-0 up.

Then, of course, that comes back later on in the game when Burnley inevitably get a chance or two. Tight games can be settled by fine margins, and that all went against Sunderland.

I do not think Sunderland fans will be panicking after that, though. They are disappointed as they looked upon that as a winnable fixture against a fellow newly promoted side and thought it was a good opportunity to build on that West Ham win, but they won't be too worried.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on?

If you want the biggest goal threat, probably Eliezer Mayenda.

Mayenda scored goals last season in the Championship and scored the first goal against West Ham. He is very, very impressive.

If you want to move away from him and look at the new signings, the two that have really impressed me have been Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki. They have both looked really impressive in Sunderland's new-look midfield, either side of Granit Xhaka, and have been the heartbeat.

What should Keith Andrews' side expect from Sunderland in terms of shape and style?

Régis Le Bris seems to like the 4-3-3 system. That seems to be his sort of go-to shape. They like to play a high-tempo style, with a lot of pressing, and it is quite an exciting, front-foot approach. That is what gets fans on board and on side.

It is not too dissimilar to what you see at Brentford, in that respect, and that is probably the hallmark of this Sunderland team.

You have got the experience of a Granit Xhaka, but then you have got the legs of the players around him and further up the pitch to do the chasing and to do the closing down. That is probably the best way to sum up what to expect.

There haven't been many meetings between these teams in recent history, but Brentford took four points from six in the Championship in 2017/18. What's your score prediction for this one?

From Sunderland's point of view, this group of players that have come in are still knitting together. They will get better as a unit as they gel, but there have been some promising signs so far.

I will say Brentford are going to be the best team Sunderland have played thus far, and I will go for a 1-1 draw.