Sunderland return to action once again in the Championship as they travel away from Wearside to take on Birmingham at St. Andrew's this afternoon.
The Black Cats head into this match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield in Yorkshire earlier this week, thanks to a first-half goal from Matthew Pearson.
Head coach Michael Beale could now look to make some changes to his starting XI in a bid to return to winning ways against the man he replaced in the dugout – Tony Mowbray.
Abdoullah Ba is one player who should be ditched from the line-up, and replaced by Patrick Roberts, after a disappointing performance last time out.
Abdoullah Ba's performance against Huddersfield
The French midfielder lined up on the right flank against the Terriers and failed to make a positive impression with his work in and out of possession.
He played the opening 61 minutes of the contest and created one chance for his teammates, whilst the dud also failed to register a single shot on target.
The 20-year-old lightweight lost three of his five ground duels and did not complete any of his three attempted dribbles before being hauled off just after an hour.
Starts
Three
Sofascore rating
6.43
Goals
Zero
Assists
Zero
Key passes
Two
Big chances missed
Two
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see from the table above, Ba has been in poor form over the last three matches with a startling lack of impact at the top end of the pitch.
He has spurned the two good opportunities his teammates have created for him and only made two key passes in three starts for the Black Cats, which is why Beale must now ditch him from the line-up and start Roberts on the right wing.
Why Patrick Roberts should start
The £11k-per-week magician recently started in the 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle and showcased his quality, and importance to the team, in a fine display.
Ba started in midfield that day, instead of on the right flank, and that allowed Roberts to play out wide. It was an opportunity that the English forward grasped with an impressive performance.
Minutes played
69
Sofascore rating
7.5
Key passes
Three
Assists
One
Pass accuracy
96%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the former Manchester City starlet, who was once hailed as "magic" by journalist Josh Bunting, was extremely reliable in possession of the ball with only two misplaced passes and three chances created, one of which led to a goal.
Roberts, who Bunting also claimed has "sheer quality", rolled the ball off to Pierre Ekwah from a free-kick to catch the Plymouth defence off guard and allow the ex-West Ham gem to fire a shot into the back of the net to make it 1-1 at the time.
The 27-year-old wizard, who won five of his eight duels on the day, was involved in more goals (one) and provided more key passes (three) than Ba has in his last three starts combined – in just 69 minutes against Plymouth.
This is why Beale should ruthlessly ditch the former Le Havre prospect from the starting XI in order to make space for Roberts to come in on the right wing to cause Birmingham problems in their own third.
