Steve Bruce has bought well this Summer, reinvesting in his squad after the sales of Darren Bent and, of course, Jordan Henderson. He now has good depth in most positions, and new signings Wes Brown, Sebastian Larsson and Craig Gardner are likely to feature this weekend, while John O'Shea is injured and Connor Whickham will probably start on the bench. The Sunderland line-up below is the same team that featured against Hibs in their final pre-season friendly, but it is worth noting that Kieran Richardson is carrying a knock and may not be fit to play.
Liverpool are without the injured Skrtel, Johnson, Meireles and Gerrard, and Suarez is perhaps destined for the substitutes bench having played no part in pre-season. Aquilani seems likely to retain his place behind Andy Carroll in a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, and one of Fabio Aurelio, Jack Robinson, John Flanagan or Emiliano Insua could feature at left-back.
Sunderland's strategy will probably be one of containment and counter-attack. If they can turn the midfield into a congested physical battle, they can disrupt Liverpool's possession, and Gyan's pace on the turn is capable of causing Carragher some problems.
The Black Cats will be keen not to afford Downing any space either, because the quality of his delivery from the wings could prove pivotal. It is possible, too, that the 6'4" frame of Michael Turner will be tasked with challenging Andy Carroll. If Liverpool struggle to penetrate in the first half, they will surely use the likes of Suarez and Henderson from the bench in an attempt to claim an important early-season victory at Anfield.
It's pre-season, which means there is no Premier League form to go on, so thanks to @rokerreport for their help with this preview.