David Moyes will take charge of his first home game as Sunderland manager against north East rivals Middlesbrough on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

The former Everton and Manchester United boss took over at the Stadium of Light in the summer after Sam Allardyce left for the England job.

Moyes' reign started with a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, as Paddy McNair's late own goal handed the hosts victory. Since then, Sunderland have accepted a bid from Watford for defender Younes Kaboul, signed Steven Pienaar on a short-team deal and seen defender Lamine Kone reject a new contract.

Newly-promoted Middlesbrough started their campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Stoke. Manager Aitor Karanka said afterwards that he was pleasantly surprised by some of the players' performances.

"Last week was good because some players showed they are better than I thought," he said. "I was pleased as even when we weren't 100 per cent, the team was consistent and played with a good attitude. We looked good when we played with intensity."

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Defender Kone is out with a back problem with his Sunderland future still uncertain, while Kaboul will also be absent as he continues negotiations with Watford.

Fabio Borini is a doubt with a toe problem for the home side, while fellow midfielder Lee Cattermole could be out of action for up to six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a double hernia. Billy Jones (hip), Jan Kirchhoff (hamstring) and Sebastian Larsson (knee) are all still out.

Middlesbrough have received a timely boost as centre-back Daniel Ayala could make an unexpected return to action. 

Karanka confirmed captain Grant Leadbitter remains sidelined following his hernia operation earlier this summer and that fellow midfielder Marten de Roon would be out for two weeks due to the hamstring injury sustained on his league debut against Stoke.

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Sunderland are unbeaten in four Premier League games with Middlesbrough (W2 D2), though the most recent meeting was in January 2009.

However, Middlesbrough won the most recent meeting between the sides at the Stadium of Light in October 2012, a Scott McDonald goal settling a League Cup fourth round tie.

Moyes has lost just twice to Middlesbrough as a manager in the Premier League (W7 D5).

Alvaro Negredo will be looking to become the first Middlesbrough player to score in back-to-back Premier League games since Afonso Alves in October 2008.

Jermain Defoe needs one more goal to go outright 10th in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts (144 currently).

Since Defoe made his league debut for Sunderland on January 17 2015, he has scored 20 Premier League goals - no other Sunderland player has more than five league goals in this period.

Paul Merson's prediction

Big game! Sunderland did alright at the Etihad but I think it was the wrong decision to take Defoe off towards the end.

It's easy to say that now, but I felt it gave Man City the impetus to attack freely. If Defoe was on the pitch, they would have been a bit more wary.

Middlesbrough had a good result too, Gaston Ramirez looks a very good signing and if you get the ball in the box to Negredo, he'll score goals. They need to play to his strengths.

There won't be much between these two at the end of the season and I think there are goals to be had at the Stadium of Light. I'm going for a wide-open game, and a score draw.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 (Sky Bet odds 16/1)