- Sunderland signed 10 new players this summer
- Neither side have lost on Opening Day in the last 4 years
- Fulham only secured five points from losing positions last year
โFulhamericaโ visits Jozy Altidoreโs Sunderland in a U.S. special Saturday. The red-hot 23-year-old striker is set to make his Sunderland debut, his first in the English Premier League since his failed Hull City stint in the 2009/10 season.
Just like in the Stoke City vs. Liverpool matchup, both these clubs finished in relatively disappointing positions. Last yearโs hot start for Fulham (including a 5-0 defeat of Norwich on Opening Day) fizzled out as they relied heavily on Dimitar Berbatov for goals. The end of the year brought fatigue, which led to them being sucked into the relegation battle before outside help saw them pushed up to 12th place.
Sunderland were very much in the relegation tempest, finishing just above the drop zone in 17th thanks largely to Wiganโs league failures down the stretch. Paolo Di Canio, brought in with seven games to go to inject some fighting spirit into the squad and avoid relegation, has signed a whopping 10 new players this summer, including Altidore. Many of them, like Emanuele Giaccherini and Vito Mannone, could not just make appearances Saturday but start as well.
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Altidore is on a blistering hot streak this summer in international play for the United States, and Di Canio would love for his new signing to carry that success over to his team as well. Jozy bagged a hat-trick against Bosnia-Herzegovina to spur the United States to a stunning comeback just two days ago, making it five consecutive matches Altidore has scored in for the United States.
On the flip side, Fulham manager Martin Jol will have a selection headache with the brand new addition of former Sunderland striker Darren Bent. With former Golden Boot winner Dimitar Berbatov at the front of last yearโs attack, Bentโs addition presents the question whether Berbatov will move behind the Englishman or alongside him. If Berba moves back as a secondary striker to utilize his distribution abilities, it displaces current secondary striker Bryan Ruiz. Ruiz is capable of playing on the wing, but has lacked conviction from there in his previous Fulham appearances out wide.
Will Altidore continue his goalscoring stampede? Will Berbatov continue his form from last season? You can find out by tuning in live on Saturday at 10:00am ET on NBC Sports Live Extra.
What theyโre saying
Di Canio on Altidore: โI donโt hope he will be a success โ I am sure he will be a success. With his characteristics he will score many goals. He can play very well for the team and can score lots of goals. His main part is to score goals and to help the others. He is a modern footballer, like you saw last night. He can make lovely movements and we expect that he will score many goals for us. I donโt know a number, but it wonโt be two obviously.โ
Altidore on his move to Sunderland: โOne of the biggest reasons for the move for me was the chance to train against the best every day. My last club was a great club, and now I need to be challenged more.โ
Martin Jol on his squad: โWe need pace up front. We need goals and if you see our flank players they are very talented, but since Clint Dempsey left we have not scored enough. I think Adel [Taarabt] is capable of scoring goals, Berbatov is, Bryan could be. But what I need is someone who can score more. We are a very good Premier League club and we have some good players, but I want to strengthen the squad.โ
Prediction
It would seem, with two sides looking to improve on last yearโs goal tallies, that the new additions would mean a more attacking match. With Paolo Di Canio having brought Sunderland to life and Martin Jol given his side a boost in the transfer window, there very well may be goals in this match. Itโs hard to imagine Altidoreโs hot streak not carrying over, so he leads Sunderland to a 2-1 victory over a Fulham side that has always struggled away from home.
