Stats at a glance: Poznan (A) Europa League: 22/10/2026
Average home goals predicted: 0.75
Average away goals predicted: 1.6
Confidence of Roker Report’s writers: 4.9/10
Predicting a win for the Lads: 50%
Martin Wanless (Cautious Optimist) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 1 Sunderland 1
I don’t know whether we just go all in for the Europa league now and see what happens in the Premier League, or we need to rotate heavily today and rest players for Sunday.
Mind, given the lack of effort at Bournemouth there won’t be many needing a rest.
Hopefully we’ll avoid defeat and more importantly play with something resembling some intensity and desire.
Key differentiator: Bitting
Confidence: 3/10
Bold call:We’ll pass the ball to someone moving, and they’ll continue to moving forward with the ball.
Malc Dugdale (Scarred happy clapper) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 0 Sunderland 2
I have learned over the years never to base anything around Sunderland AFC on stats. Just when you expect us to lose we tend to show up and win, and when you expect a win, we often dont.
I think in the aftermath of Bournemouth we will rally and get a decent win. Hopefully the situation we are in fires up the players and encourages the coach to do something to kick start our form in the Premier league by making it three wins in three in the Europa.
I have nothing to base this on other than typical SAFC weird behaviour, blind faith and a lot of hope, but I’ll go with that.
Key differentiator:We simply have to learn from the defensive errors, and I think this will make us tight in Poland, but better on the break
Confidence: 5/10
Bold call:At least one scorer for SAFC will have a visible tash ready for Movember.
Jack Howe-Gingell (Eternal optimist) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 0 Sunderland 2
We need to get back to better performances. That’s it.
I’m not sure what’s causing it but back to back lack-lustre showings is understandably causing cause for concern, but ours lads can arrest that.
I’m unsure what kind of rotation we will see, with another big game on Sunday against Leeds. What I do know is that winning is always useful and we need to try and do that.
Poznań are second domestically, but have lost both of their opening Europa League games by a four goal margin, with a poor performing Crystal Palace even getting in on it.
Key differentiator: Poznań for their league form are of a different standard. I think we will have too much for them, and there will some wanting to prove a point.
Confidence: 7/10
Bold call:Both our goals inside the first ten minutes.
“Champion” Will Jones (Heart over head) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 1 Sunderland 3
Well, Bournemouth was a bit of a disaster. Two goals conceded, a defensive calamity and Danso getting sent off after just 17 minutes. Not exactly the sort of performance you want going into another away trip, but thankfully we don’t have long to dwell on it.
Back in Europe, hopefully the lads can put things right. Poznań will be a tough place to go, but Thursday is a chance to get that confidence back and remind ourselves what this team can do. Maybe I’m being hopelessly optimistic, but I fancy us to turn it around and come home with a big three points.
Key differentiator: We need to cut out the defensive mistakes and show a bit more composure at the back.
Confidence: 5/10
Bold call:Sunderland score from a corner, a penalty and a goal from outside the box, with all three goals coming from players who started on the bench against Bournemouth. Absolute European nonsense.
Matty Foster (Pragmatist) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 1 Sunderland 1
We’ve fared better in Europe than we have in the league that’s for sure. And whilst we’ve won both games so far, I think this will be the toughest so far, for travel and fatigue alone.
Will be happy to remain unbeaten, and keep ourselves on track to be in the upper reaches of the table.
Whilst Thursday was a magical moment in our history, I reckon the tired legs will show in this.
Key differentiator: It will be dependant on what changes are made in the squad. Something needs switching up tonight.
Confidence: 6/10
Bold call:Both goals will be scored after 80 minutes
Anthony Gair (Depreciating optimist) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 1 Sunderland 1
My confidence is waning in our team, and we’re off to volatile Poznan for a wild night in Poland to try and fix the issues we’re having as a team.
I think Regis will play an understrength squad with us being bottom of the Premier League table, putting his focus on trying to survive.
This being the case, we’ll field a youthful, energetic side which will concede due to naivety, but nick one at the other end.
Key differentiator: Basically what the lineup is. If we field a strong side, we’ll win. If we field young’uns, we’ll draw.
Confidence: 2/10
Bold call:We’ll have more than 5 corners in the first half.
Gary Winter (Glass almost empty) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 1 Sunderland 1
I’m trying to convince myself this is a nice distraction from our disastrous league start, but I can’t help but look at the league table and ahead to Leeds at the weekend, with some concern I might add.
Poznan are doing well in the league but have taken two thumpings in Europe.
Ordinarily, I would think we should win this game, but it could go any way depending on our reaction.
Key differentiator: I can’t see us fielding a side close to our strongest available with one eye on Leeds. We might bring a few starters on with 15 minutes or so left but we probably won’t be as fortunate again as we were in Leiria.
Confidence: 6/10
Bold call:Two or more goals scored between 45-67 minutes.
Brett Lyons-Davis (Gut feeling guy) says…
Score prediction: Poznan 1 Sunderland 2
Well it’s all gone a bit crap the lads need a reaction and vs a Poznan team who have lost both there first two Europa games, this is the game to do it.
(I’m ignoring they are second with a game in hand and won 6-1 at the weekend)
Key differentiator: We are unstoppable in Europe
Confidence: 5/10
Bold call: There will be no European goal scorers but all bookings will be European.
Last game thoughts…
The performance at the weekend needs to have a line drawn under it, and huge lessons learned from it.
The road to recovery starts in Poland, and if we can get a win we will be well on the way to the knockout stages, and hopefully we will also work out how the hell we sort out the lads for Leeds in the Prem at the weekend.
A certain manager had an issue like ours last season, and he sorted that out with a few changes in bodies and shape.
Lets use Poznan to see what our options are and lets see Regis show us that anything Daniel can do…
Last game predictions…
A number of the lads backed us to get something at Bournemouth, and were hence even more disappointed than the rest of the fan base.
Gair went from mega optimist to mega pessimist and has grabbed three valuable points to hoist him up the table.
Predictions table and standings
Gary overtakes Matty to top the table after getting a point, and Matty taking a deduction for tardy submissions twice in 2 weeks.
Gair joins Will in 3rd and immediately staunches a nose bleed given his elevation in the table compared to past norms.
The chasing pack isn’t far behind, apart from Jack who is having an Omar moment of his own.
How the points are awarded
Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:
- Correct score = Three points
- Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
- Correct Bold Call = One point
- Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = a two-point deduction.