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Sunderland must unleash Bailey Wright

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Sunderland must unleash Bailey Wright

Sunderland journey away from the Stadium of Mild for the second time this week as they face Stoke within the Championship this afternoon.

The Black Cats misplaced 2-1 to Sheffield United on Wednesday night time and can now be seeking to bounce again as they face the Potters.

Alex Neil could look to make some adjustments to his staff with the intention of returning to successful methods, and one participant he should unleash from the beginning as we speak is centre-back Bailey Wright.

The Australian came off the bench within the defeat to the Blades and stood out above his team-mates with a SofaScore rating of 7.2 – the second-highest among the many away staff on the night time.

The 30-year-old made 5 clearances, two blocks and two interceptions in his 36 minutes on the pitch. In the meantime, Danny Batth and Dennis Cirkin solely made seven clearances between them and didn’t make a block or interception, taking part in 86 and 90 minutes every respectively.

These statistics, alongside along with his match ranking, counsel that Wright defended to the next stage of high quality than the pair, and that’s one motive why Neil ought to begin him on Saturday.

Ought to Wright begin in opposition to Stoke?

Roker Report author Philip West tweeted earlier this 12 months that the £13k-per-week defender has the “coronary heart of a lion”.

In the meantime, Black Cats legend Kevin Phillips beforehand in contrast him to Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, saying“He’s been an amazing signing. I don’t know the participant, however I simply get the sensation that he’s a frontrunner and a voice within the dressing room.

“Typically the supervisor can solely say a lot and then you definitely need of your senior expertise gamers to pipe up and put just a few folks of their place and provides encouragement and be a frontrunner. He looks like that.

“The stats simply present what an vital participant he’s. He’s nearly to Sunderland what Van Dijk is to Liverpool in the mean time with these unbelievable stats.”

The Dutch centre-back has won the Premier League and Champions League with Liverpool, dominating opposition gamers within the air. He received 77% of his aerial battles within the prime flight final time period and 76%  within the Reds’ 2019/20 title-winning marketing campaign, successful 63% within the intervening season.

Wright could possibly be Sunderland’s personal model of the Dutchman in opposition to Stoke as he’s additionally chic within the air. Within the Championship this season, the Australian has received 100% of his aerial battles in two appearances, after successful 67% in each of his League One seasons with the membership.

This exhibits that the 30-year-old has the standard to dominate opposition forwards, in an analogous type to Van Dijk, and his capability within the air is another excuse why he ought to begin in opposition to the Potters as we speak.