Saracens face the unenviable task of a trip to Sandy Park on Sunday against Exeter in the battle for top spot.

The north London side’s five-game winning streak came to an end last weekend against an impressive Leicester.

With just four points between them and leaders Chiefs, a bonus-point win would be enough to overtake their rivals.

Mark McCall makes two changes to his side, with George Kruis returning from international duty in the second row.

And in the back three, academy product Ben Earl will start at openside whilst Nick Isiekwe switches to the other flank.

New signing Blair Cowan could play a part as he joins a strong bench, including last week’s double try scorer Max Malins.

Exeter provided ample excitement in their fixture against Northampton Saints last week, with a last gasp score from Thomas Waldrom to clinch it 31-30.

Rob Baxter’s men had lost three on the bounce before last week, suggesting the defending champions could be showing some chinks in the armour.

Saracens centre Marcello Bosch understands the challenge of the away fixture, which has been pushed back 24 hours from Saturday due to the adverse weather, but believes the right mindset will be key.

He said: “It’s an important game for us.

“It’s always difficult to play down there but we’ve always done well; it’ll come down to our mentality and focusing on changing some things we didn’t do well last weekend.

“We know it’s a tough place to go but we know if we go with the right mindset then we can have a good game.

“They’re the champions of the Premiership which tells you something so it’s a good team but I believe in our squad.

“We are very keen and confident to go there, make it a good game and hopefully get a victory.”