A closer examination of Sunderland’s striker situation following their goalless draw at the Stadium of Light against QPR.
In a goalless draw with QPR, Sunderland maintained their first clean sheet since New Year’s Day, but their offensive production was alarmingly low.
The Black Cats had a lackluster afternoon at the Stadium of Light, unable to muster a single shot on goal. Interim head coach Mike Dodds acknowledged that his team’showed no genuine talent in the game.’
Of course, there are explanations for that, as Sunderland’s extensive injury list is hard to overlook. The team’s offensive has undoubtedly been weakened by the loss of first-choice widemen Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts, and another inventive player was lost when Alex Pritchard was sold in January.
It’s difficult to understand how Sunderland will score when you consider that all four of their recognized strikers, who joined in the summer, have had difficulty making a big difference.
Nazariy Rusyn, a 25-year-old who played primarily as a wide attacker for Ukrainian team Zorya Luhansk, has shown the greatest potential up front out of the four forwards that joined Wearside at the beginning of the season. Additionally, he was out for the QPR match due to a knock.
Mason Burstow, a Chelsea loanee, and Hemir remain when Eliezer Mayenda, who is on loan at Hibernian and has only made one league start, goes. At this point in their careers, neither has appeared prepared to have an effect on the Championship.
Hemir led the line against QPR, however he remained unnoticed for the majority of the game. The 20-year-old has time to grow at the Stadium of Light after agreeing to a five-year contract with Sunderland last summer, but he will need to advance quickly to maintain his chances of making the first squad.
A striker option for Dodds would be to deploy Jobe Bellingham up front. Although the 18-year-old may end up playing as a No 10 or central midfielder for Sunderland, he appears to be the team’s best striker option at the moment.
Bellingham did well in a similar capacity during a 2-1 victory over West Brom under Dodds in December, and he scored twice while playing up front in a win against Rotherham earlier in the season.
In order to snap a seven-match losing streak, Sunderland’s interim manager must now determine whether it is preferable for the squad to start Bellingham as a center striker once more during the international break.