'Unbelievable' Leeds United star hailed - but Sunderland backed to keep him under wraps

Leeds United are aiming to extend their recent upturn in form when they face a tricky looking trip to Premier League rivals Sunderland on Sunday.

The Whites remain in a battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League and are sitting six points above the drop zone ahead of their short trip to the North East. However, the mood is understandably positive after Daniel Farke’s side built on a positive performance during the second half of their 3-2 defeat at Manchester City by taking eight points from a visit to Brentford and home games against Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Chelsea.

One of they key factors in a promising run has been the performances of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the former Everton striker moved on from what was a slow start to life at Elland Road by plundering his way to six goals in his last five games. That run started with a goal in the defeat at City and a brace in the weekend win against Palace has ensured the England striker will be full of confidence when he takes his place in the Leeds side that will face former Championship promotion rivals Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.

The impact Calvert-Lewin has made goes far beyond his goalscoring exploits in recent weeks - and former Premier League winner Chris Sutton has described the former Everton man as ‘absolutely unbelievable’ - but hinted he could struggle to make an impact against a Sunderland side currently sitting in the top seven of the Premier League table.

What has Chris Sutton said about Sunderland v Leeds United?

Writing in his BBC Premier League predictions column, the former Blackburn Rovers striker said: “Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been absolutely unbelievable up front for Leeds. They are just a much better team with him in it, and their confidence must be sky-high at the moment too, because they have had some excellent results recently. The worry for Sunderland is how much they will miss their players who are away at AFCON, but I don't think it will affect them. The Black Cats don't score a lot of goals but they are always so well-organised - I am going for them to win, and keep out Calvert-Lewin to keep a clean sheet too.”

What has Daniel Farke said about Sunderland v Leeds United?

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Whites boss said of Sunderland’s performances so far this season: “Not surprised, but it's definitely remarkable what they've done. We spoke about how difficult it is for a promoted side to be over the line and to give yourself a chance to stay in this league, and for that their points tally is already on a really good height - and for that, yes, remarkable results. But they were one of the best Championship sides last season - perhaps not with a perfect end of the regular season, but then also pretty impressive and effective during the play-offs - and I was expecting that they would do well because their manager is always calm and is doing a remarkable job.

“They had really good recruitment in the summer and my gut feeling was also they wouldn't need to change their style of play too much in comparison to the Championship because even there they were always compact and there was quick transitions and quick attacks... they didn't have to change their style too much for this season where, of course, as a promoted side you have a bit more of an approach where you concentrate on being rock-solid against the ball and to be there with quick transitions.”

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