Dennis Cirkin, Lutsharel Geertruida, Chris Rigg and Luke O’Nien are named in Sunderland U21s side to face Dortmund II tonight in Europe

Sunderland Under-21s face Borussia Dortmund II in the Premier League International Cup at the Stadium of Light this evening, with qualification for the quarter-finals firmly on the line.

The full Sunderland XI has now been confirmed, with first-team players Dennis Cirkin, Lutsharel Geertruida, Luke O’Nien and Chris Rigg named on the teamsheet. Their involvement provides a significant boost for Graeme Murty’s side, with the players using the fixture to maintain sharpness ahead of the second half of the season.

Murty’s Under-21s currently sit top of Group D following an unbeaten run so far in the competition. Sunderland opened their campaign with a 2-2 draw against RSC Anderlecht, before recording a thumping 7-1 victory over Athletic Club. That was followed by a narrow but important 1-0 win against Sporting CP in November.

Sunderland XI: Adam Richardson, Jenson Jones, Finlay Holcroft, Luke O’Nien, Dennis Cirkin, Lutsharel Geertruida, Jaydon Jones, Jack Whittaker, Harrison Jones, Chris Rigg, Finn Geragusian

Sunderland bench: Ben Metcalf, Ben Kindon, Archie Lightfoot, Marcus Neill, Charlie Dinsdale, Rhys Walsh, Liam Hunt

Tonight’s visitors sit one place below Sunderland in Group D, with six points from their opening three matches. Dortmund II began their group-stage campaign with a 3-0 win away at Leeds United, before suffering a 2-0 defeat against Manchester United. Last time out, they returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory at West Ham United.

Borussia Dortmund II currently compete in the Regionalliga West, German football’s fourth tier. This is their first season at that level in five campaigns following relegation from the 3. Liga last season. Domestically, the young Black and Yellow sit fifth with 32 points from 18 matches and arrive on Wearside having lost just two of their last 14 games in all competitions.

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The German side are led by Daniel Rios, who took charge in August 2025 after stepping up from assistant manager following Mike Tullberg’s departure to Midtjylland. With the top two teams in each group progressing to the quarter-finals – where ties will be decided by one-off matches – Sunderland know that a win tonight would secure their passage into the last eight.

After Sunderland’s last game – a 1-1 draw against North East rivals Newcastle United in the Premier League 2 last week – Murty said: “I’ll let them get over this one because this is a big game for them. We’ll get it properly, and then we’ll start to look at Dortmund. The guys haven’t looked too far ahead, which is good. But once we know our team selection and the group that we have, we’ll start to plot that.

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“The staff will get together and look at Dortmund, and then we’ll craft it from there. It might be a case where we have to rein the players in a little bit. But these guys generally approach every game really, really well. We’re looking forward to a good test and we’re looking forward to a good challenge.

“We can’t wait to welcome them into the North East because learning from them and having a relationship with them is something that this club and the academy will benefit from. If we can forge that relationship through a good game and a good contest and the manner in which we host, I think that we will all benefit from it.”

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