Sunderland visit in-form Southampton in the League Cup tonight.
Charlie Nicholas has told Sky Sports that he believes a “comfortable home win” is on the cards for Southampton tonight ahead of the League Cup visit of Sunderland.
The Black Cats travel to the South Coast looking to pick up a rare win and move into the quarter-finals of the competition.
But the form guide suggests a straight-forward victory for Southampton.
David Moyes’s Sunderland remain bottom of the Premier League after failing to win any of their nine outings this season, with a last-gasp 1-0 defeat at West Ham on the weekend representing the latest in a series of disappointments for them so far.
In contrast, Southampton go into the clash on the back of a 1-1 draw at top-of-the-table Manchester City on Sunday, extending their unbeaten streak to five – three were wins.
One of Sunderland’s two points this season came in a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s back in August, but Nicholas does not expect the North-East side – who have Arsenal on the weekend – to leave with anything this time around.
“I’ve been complimentary of Claude Puel because he’s seen that his centre-backs are good enough not to play in a back three and allowed other players to push on,” he wrote on Sky Sports.
Charlie Austin has made the forward position his own with Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond free to go forward as Oriol Romeu and Steven Davis have the quality and economy to protect the back four.
“They were really unfortunate to lose at Arsenal at the start of last month and I think the penny dropped that they are good enough to be a successful side.
“This is a tough one for Sunderland, with Arsenal to come at the weekend, and I can’t see anything but a comfortable home win.”
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