Sunderland welcome Luton to Stadium of Light in the first leg of their 2022-23 Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final.
Sunderland snatched the final play-off spot with a crucial final day victory at Preston coupled with results elsewhere swinging in their favour, whilst Luton qualified as the third best team in the division which was confirmed on the first May Bank Holiday weekend.
Team News
Dennis Cirkin and Lynden Gooch are doubtful for Sunderland after the pair were substituted with knocks during their win at Preston.
Jewison Bennette (shoulder), Dan Ballard (hamstring), Aji Alese (thigh), Danny Batth, Corry Evans (both knee), Elliot Embleton (ankle), Chris Rigg (unspecified) and Ross Stewart (Achilles) remain absent.
Luton have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection.
When is Kick-Off?
Sunderland host Luton at Stadium of Light in a 5:30pm BST kick-off on Saturday 13 May, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland are meeting Luton in a post-season play-off tie for the first time, yet are unbeaten in their last nine league meetings (W4, D5).
- Luton are winless in each of their last 15 league visits to Sunderland (D6, L9).
- Each of Sunderland’s last four meetings against Luton have ended in a 1-1 draw.
- Jack Clarke has been booked in each of Sunderland’s last two home games (D2).
- Luton are unbeaten in their last 12 league matches away from home (W6, D6).
Prediction
With spirits high after scraping into the play-offs with a dominant final-day win at Preston, Sunderland should hold no fear given that they’re now unbeaten in nine matches, and have strong form against Luton both across recent meetings and their home form dating back to the 1970s.
Tony Mowbray’s Black Cats though will need to manage the early stages of the match better because they were a bit sluggish but crucially grew into the game, in which three clinical goals proved decisive at Deepdale but they do have the quality to chase an early advantage.
Luton manager – Rob Edwards meanwhile shuffled the pack in a quiet goalless draw against Hull, so I do expect the Hatters to be back amongst the goals if they can quickly rediscover their spark, because rotating eight players is a lot and can potentially unsettle momentum.
If there is one positive for Luton, it is that they are unbeaten in their last 12 league games on the road and have a resilient defence, which is going to prove tough for Sunderland to break down especially seeing as each of the last four meetings have ended in a 1-1 draw between the pair.
Sunderland though surely have to make home advantage count in this leg if they want to put the tie in their own hands heading to Luton, because if this tie is still in the balance then it will be a tough ask at Kenilworth Road despite all of their play-off experiences in recent seasons.
In summary, this leg should be tight but entertaining battle given the quality within this team but Sunderland’s home crowd could well be the difference if this doesn’t finish level.
Prediction: Sunderland 1-0 Luton
Result: Sunderland 2-1 Luton
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