Sunderland meet Fulham in a huge Premier League clash in the race for European qualification.
Victory will lift Sunderland up to eighth in the table, whilst Fulham can leapfrog the Black Cats into 10th with a win – although ninth if possible on goal difference if win by at least four goals or more.
Team News
Sunderland will welcome Granit Xhaka back into contention following his recovery from an ankle injury which had kept him sidelined for the last month.
Bertrand Traore and Reinildo remain absent due to knee injuries.
Fulham will be without Samuel Chukwueze due to a minor calf injury, which kept him out of their 2-1 comeback FA Cup victory at Stoke.
Tom Cairney (calf) and Sasa Lukic (muscle) however are both set to return to the line-up.
When is Kick-Off?
Sunderland host Fulham at Stadium of Light on Sunday 22 February at 2pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sunderland have picked up seven points in their last five Premier League meetings against Fulham (W2, D1, L2).
- Fulham are unbeaten in their last five Premier League visits to Sunderland (W2, D3).
- Two of Sunderland’s last three league meetings against Fulham have ended in 1-0 defeats for the Black Cats.
- Sunderland are looking to avoid suffering consecutive home defeats for the first time since a three-match run of 1-0 losses across April – May 2025.
- Fulham have won one of their last five league games (W1, L4).
Prediction
Having suffered a first home loss of the league campaign in their last outing on their own turf, Sunderland bounced back with a clinical FA Cup win at Oxford United amidst various changes which was the perfect tonic to get back to winning ways for this tricky clash.
Fulham meanwhile endured their own FA Cup tribulations against Championship opposition as they struggled to break Stoke down and could of easily been 2-0 down after 50 minutes, yet their superior quality showed through in the second half to come from behind amidst ten changes to their starting line-up.
Marco Silva though has an almost-full squad available now coming into this clash given their recent top-flight away form at Sunderland, but they’ve won just one of their last five league games so I expect a tough battle because this is must-win if want to stay in the hunt for European qualification.
A draw therefore feels like a fair prediction given Sunderland’s home form aside from their blip against Liverpool.
Prediction: Sunderland 1-1 Fulham
Result: Sunderland 1-3 Fulham