Two teams who have made contrasting starts in the Europa League square off at The Stadion Poznan in Poland on Thursday evening, as Lech Poznan play host to Sunderland.

While the Black Cats occupy a top-nine position in the 36-team table, the Railwaymen sit rock bottom of the standings after the first two rounds of fixtures.

Match preview

After exceeding expectations and finishing seventh in the Premier League last season, a year after securing promotion, Sunderland find themselves rooted to the foot of the table after losing five of their first seven matches this term (D1 W1).

No Premier League team has committed more errors leading to goals than the Black Cats (five), who failed to register a single shot on target and had Kevin Danso sent off in the opening 17 minutes of a 2-0 away defeat to Bournemouth last weekend – their fourth straight league loss.

Another “very painful” setback leaves head coach Regis Le Bris “worried” as his Sunderland side are experiencing “a big down” in what he expects to be a campaign filled with “ups and downs”. The Frenchman can at least take positives from their first European campaign in 53 years.

Indeed, the Black Cats are one of 10 teams out of 36 to win their opening two matches in this season’s Europa League. A slender 1-0 home success over AZ Alkmaar followed by a last-gasp 2-1 comeback triumph against Portuguese second-tier outfit Torreense last week, courtesy of Noah Sadiki’s 93rd-minute winner.

Sunderland will be keen to address their leaky backline when they head into Thursday’s contest, as they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 10 away games across all competitions, conceding 19 goals in total.

Lech Poznan are one of nine Europa League teams out of 36 who have suffered defeat in both of their opening two League Phase fixtures, but they are one of only two sides to lose without scoring, conceding a competition-high eight goals in the process.

The Railwaymen began their campaign with a heavy 4-0 away defeat to Crystal Palace before losing by the same scoreline at home to Bayer Leverkusen last week – in both games they were trailing by three goals at half time.

Head coach Niels Frederiksen admitted that his players were ‘nervous with and without the ball’ against Leverkusen, and he has encouraged his players to learn from the lessons of their first two matches in which they struggled to adapt to the pace of the game against higher-quality opposition.

The reigning Polish Ekstraklasa champions have since responded in emphatic fashion, thrashing mid-table side Korona Kielce 6-1 on Sunday to climb up to second in the table and one point behind leaders Gornik Zabrze, who have played a game more.

Poznan have found it difficult to transfer their domestic form onto the continental stage; they have lost each of their last five Europa League games (excluding qualifiers) and have been beaten in five of their last six matches on home soil. The Railwaymen are also in danger of becoming the first Europa League side to lose their first three games of a season and concede at least four goals in each.

Lech Poznan Europa League form:

Lech Poznan form (all competitions):

Sunderland Europa League form:

Sunderland form (all competitions):

Team News

Lech Poznan will be without Allahyar Sayyadmanesh who is ruled out with a hamstring injury sustained in training earlier this month, while Alex Douglas (ankle) and Ali Gholizadeh (ACL) are also sidelined.

However, Radoslaw Murawski is available to return after serving a one-match ban following his red card on matchday one, and the midfielder could start alongside Antoni Kozubal and Pablo Rodriguez.

Patrik Walemark has scored a team-high 11 goals in 19 appearances so far this season and is likely to continue on the right side of attack, while Mikael Ishak leads the line and Leo Bengtsson battles with Luis Palma for a start on the left flank.

As for Sunderland, Brian Brobbey has returned to team training after recovering from a hamstring injury, but Le Bris remains cautious over the striker’s fitness and an appearance on Thursday is considered unlikely.

Romaine Mundle (knee), Daniel Ballard and Thomas Meunier (hamstring) remain sidelined, while a late call is set to be made on the availability of Wilson Isidor, who missed the defeat at Bournemouth with a minor unspecified issue.

After starting against Torrense and Bournemouth, Timur Tutierov, 21, could be handed just his third senior start for the Black Cats up front, while Malick Fofana, Nilson Angulo, Habib Diarra, Dayann Methalie and Luke O'Nien will all be pushing to earn a recall after beginning as substitutes last time out.

Lech Poznan possible starting lineup:

Lis; Pereira, Skrzypczak, Monka, Gurgul; Kozubal, Murawski; Walemark, Rodriguez, Palma; Ishak

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Roefs; Hume, Danso, O’Nien, Methalie; Xhaka, Sadiki; Fofana, Rigg, Angulo; Tutierov

We say: Lech Poznan 0-2 Sunderland

With both managers demanding a sharp response following recent setbacks, a tightly-contested battle is expected between two teams keen to begin a positive run of form.

Even if Le Bris opts to freshen up his starting lineup, Sunderland should still possess the necessary quality to navigate their way past a Lech Poznan outfit that has struggled to adapt on the continent this term, presenting a prime opportunity for the visitors to finally end their 10-game away clean-sheet drought.

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