Southampton Vs Sunderland: Confirmed Lineups

Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio sprung a surprise this afternoon with his team selection with Valetin Roberge making way for the imposing Modibo Diakite in the centre of his defensive four, however the major shock came with the personnel selected in the middle of the park.

Having sat out last weekend's curtain raiser through suspension, Craig Gardner was handed a starting berth at the expense of Cabral, who was arguably one of Sunderland's best performers against Fulham.

Elsewhere among the starting eleven it is as you were from last weekend.

Sunderland (4-4-1-1): Keiren Westwood; Ondrej Celustka, John O'Shea (c), Modibo Diakite, Jack Colback; Adam Johnson, Craig Gardner, Sebastian Larsson, Emanuele Giaccherini; Stephane Sessegnon; Jozy Altidore.

Substitutes: Vito Mannone, Cabral, Connor Wickham, David Vaughan, Ji Dong-Won, David Moberg Karlsson, Valentin Roberg.

Meanwhile Mauricio Pochettino opted not to start his latest big summer signing, Osvaldo, who has to settle for a place among the substitutes. Victor Wanyama is selected in the middle of the Saints midfield and it will be interesting to see how Gardner and Larsson manage to handle him.

Southampton (4-3-3): Artur Boruc; Calum Chambers, Jose Fonte, Dejan Lovren, Luke Shaw; Victor Wanyama, Morgan Schneiderlin, James Ward-Prowse, Adam Lallana (c); Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert

Substitutes: Kelvin Davis, Nathaniel Clyne, Steven Davis, Gaston Ramirez, Jack Cork, Pablo Osvaldo, Jos Hooiveld

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