Sunderland host Hull City at Stadium of Light in the race for the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs.
With just one point separating the pair in seventh and ninth respectively, victory would see Sunderland or Hull climb to sixth – although a draw would be enough for the Black Cats.
Team News
Aji Alese is a doubt for Sunderland after he picked up a knock in training.
Patrick Roberts (calf), Niall Huggins (knee), Dennis Cirkin, Bradley Dack (both hamstring) and Corry Evans (ACL) remain absent.
Hull will be without James Furlong after he suffered a knee injury during their FA Cup Third Round replay defeat at Birmingham City.
Jean Michael Seri (international duty), Ruben Vinagre (hamstring), Aaron Connolly (concussion/shoulder), Liam Delap and Jaden Philogene (both knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Sunderland host Hull at Stadium of Light in a 8pm GMT kick-off on Friday 19 January, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 10 league meetings against Hull (W4, D6).
- Hull have claimed eight points in their last nine league visits to Sunderland (W2, D2, L5).
- Both teams have scored in four of their last five league meetings, except for a 1-0 away win for the Black Cats in December 2023.
- Michael Beale’s Black Cats have lost two of their last three home matches in all competitions by a 3-0 result.
- Hull have won just one of their last six away matches in the Championship (W1, D1, L4).
Prediction
Given the current state of the scrap for the final play-off spot, Sunderland need to find a way to start playing consistently under Michael Beale because they haven’t particularly looked impressive aside from that New Year’s Day home win over Preston.
In fact their sloppiness in their defeat at Ipswich despite having taken the lead shows just where they’re at in terms of adapting to Beale’s playing style, but being at home will hopefully motivate them to start building momentum.
As for Hull, they will be eager for a response to their FA Cup exit at Birmingham City in midweek because they looked comfortably for much of the game, yet are lacking confidence with one win in seven games in all competitions and a worrying injury crisis up front.
Looking to this game specifically, I don’t expect a classic but this should be close although I am going for another narrow win for Sunderland to complete the double, akin to their scrappy encounter on Humberside on Boxing Day.
Prediction: Sunderland 1-0 Hull
Result: Sunderland 0-1 Hull