Match Preview: Burnley U21 vs Sunderland U21

Sunderland Under-21s are set to return to action on Monday night in a Premier League Cup round of 16 tie as they face Burnley Under-21s at Victory Park.

Sunderland currently sit 13th in Premier League 2 whilst opponents Burnley are third in the Professional U-23 Development League, with both sides advancing to the knockout stages of the Premier league cup.

Graeme Murty’s side finished second in group D on ten points, five points behind Sheffield United who topped the table, meanwhile Burnley finished top of group G.

The Black Cats were beaten twice by the Blades with 1-0 and 2-1 defeats, but took four points off Wolves with a 2-0 home win followed by a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture.

Sunderland then ended the group stage in style beating Huddersfield 7-0 at Eppleton after previously beating them 3-2 at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Burnley topped Group G unbeaten with five wins and a goalless draw away to Brighton and are managed by Andy Farrell who made 257 league appearances for the club.

The dangerman for the hosts is Kamarni Ryan, who is their top scorer in the competition finding the net four times in six games.

However both teams are hoping to bounce back from defeat last time out, as Sunderland u21’s were beaten 2-1 by West Brom, while Burnley lost 2-0 to Sheffield Wednesday.

The crucial cup-tie kicks off at 7pm on Monday night, with both sides looking to secure a spot in the quarter finals of the competition.