Gloucester travel to Allianz Park to take on Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership on Sunday with head coach Johan Ackermann naming the same starting line-up that defeated Bristol Bears last weekend.

There is just the one change to the squad that took on Bristol at Kingsholm last Friday, prop Val Rapava Ruskin returning to be named among the replacements.

It’s a meeting between two of the three unbeaten sides to date in the Premiership, so something has to give and Ackermann is looking for his side to go better at Allianz Park than they did last season.

"Obviously we let ourselves down last year with that last game in the Premiership,” Ackermann said. “This time it’s flipped around and we’re playing them quite early on in the season, so hopefully we’ll be better.

"The biggest disappointment that day was that we’d had a decent season up to that point and then let it slip.

"It’s a great test for us so early in the season to see where we are as a team. We haven’t played consistently well over the first three rounds so it’s going to be a massive test for us. We’ve not been satisfied with our performances and there are a lot of areas where we have to get better.

"Hopefully we can play the style of rugby we want to play, playing a 15 man game but transferring pressure when appropriate with a kicking game. Getting that balance right is key on the day."
Meanwhile, Jamie George and Richard Wigglesworth will achieve landmark moments on Sunday.

England hooker George makes his 200th appearance for Saracens, aged just 27, while scrum-half Wigglesworth overtakes his former captain Steve Borthwick as the all-time Premiership appearance holder with outing 266 in the competition.

The latter is one of five changes to the side that began the win over Northampton Saints last weekend.

Owen Farrell returns from a minor strain while Sean Maitland is back on the after coming back from a dislocated finger at Franklin’s Gardens.

George Kruis makes his first start of the season with Maro Itoje switching to blindside flanker.

Billy Vunipola was unavailable for selection due to a prearranged medical procedure carried out this week. Ben Earl takes his place in the back row.

Saracens: 15 Liam Williams; 14 David Strettle, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt (capt),
11 Sean Maitland; 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Vincent Koch, 4 George Kruis, 5 Will Skelton, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 Mike Rhodes,
8 Ben Earl. Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Alex Lozowski,
23 Alex Goode

Gloucester: 15. Jason Woodward; 14. Charlie Sharples, 13. Henry Trinder, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Matt Banahan; 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Callum Braley; 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. Franco Marais, 3. Fraser Balmain; 4. Ed Slater (capt), 5. Gerbrandt Grobler; 6. Jake Polledri, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann. Replacements: 16. James Hanson, 17. Val Rapava Ruskin, 18. Ciaran Knight, 19. Freddie Clarke, 20. Ben Morgan, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Mark Atkinson, 23. Tom Hudson. Unavailable for selection: Gareth Denman, Ruan Dreyer, Willi Heinz, Jaco Kriel, Tom Marshall, Paddy McAllister, Henry Purdy, Tom Savage, Ollie Thorley