Fraizer Campbell denied Brighton with a late equaliser as Sunderland claimed a 1-1 draw in their pre-season friendly in the Algarve...What I'm taking from this for fantasy purposes:
Young keeper Trevor Carson had to make a superb save from Murray after Matt Kilgallon's error and the Black Cats then had George McCartney stretchered off, but Campbell provided a silver lining when he stretched to turn in Jordan Henderson's excellent free-kick.
* Carson is Sunderland's number one in Gordon's absence. Interestingly, he's listed as a defender on Y!'s Sunderland squad page. Wouldn't that make for an interesting fantasy selection?
* Last year's fantasy favorite Jordan Henderson is still on set piece duty.
* McCartney is through. He was always a decent fantasy bet, despite a penchant for the rash card (of various colors). But He can't get or stay healthy. I assume that means we'll see KRich line up at full back again this season. Sunderland are rich in the middle with da Silva, Ferdinand, Kilgallon, Turner and maybe Mensah but don't have any fullbacks beyond Bardsley.
... and the why:
Sunderland's opening fixtures include Birmingham, @West Brom, Manchester City, @Wigan before Arsenal, @Liverpool and Manchester United. Bruce will want points from those early matches and there could be bargains on the Sunderland side who were good bets for much of last season.
