Sunderland welcome Rotherham United to the Stadium of Light in midweek Sky Bet Championship action.
Should Blackburn, Bristol City and Preston all lose elsewhere, victory could lift Sunderland as high as fourth in the table.
Rotherham meanwhile can can climb up to third with a win.
Team News
Jewison Bennette could be in contention for his first start for Sunderland after he failed to make the team sheet for Saturday’s defeat against Norwich.
Niall Huggins (heel), Leon Dajaku (thigh), Daniel Ballard (foot) and Carl Winchester (back) remain ruled out.
Rotherham could be without both Cameron Humphreys and Cohen Bramall after the pair suffered hamstring injuries in Saturday’s win against Birmingham City
Brooke Norton-Cuffy (fitness) is a doubt after making his Millers debut at the weekend.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland are unbeaten in four of their last five meetings against Rotherham (W2, D2, L1).
- Rotherham are winless in their last nine league visits to Sunderland (D4, L5), which includes four previous visits to the Stadium of Light.
- Both teams have scored in their last three meetings at Stadium of Light, with Sunderland scoring six goals to Rotherham’s three goals.
- Sunderland have picked up 21 yellow cards in their opening six league matches – more than any other team so far this season.
- Rotherham’s Richard Wood has scored from all three of his shots on target this season.
Prediction
Despite seeing manager – Alex Neil depart the club in recent days, Sunderland didn’t seem fazed by his exit because they were dominant against Norwich, yet a mixture of a defensive error and poor end product denied them at least a draw so I do expect a response in this game.
The players will also have extra impetus to impress Tony Mowbray – who is their new manager – in this game, especially with a Tees-Wear derby coming up next Monday so a strong performance here will be important for securing a place on the team sheet for that game and morale.
Rotherham meanwhile are still unbeaten and do look dangerous when pushing forward, especially when captain – Richard Wood gets into the box with his impressive aerial ability which will surely pose tough questions for Sunderland’s defence.
I though can see Sunderland winning this if they play like they did on Saturday but more clinical, although Rotherham will certainly look to try and make a contest of this game given their form this season.
Prediction: Sunderland 2-1 Rotherham
Result: Sunderland 3-0 Rotherham