As we hit the 10 game mark in the Championship season, the league table starts to take true shape with the consistent performers stabilizing themselves at the top of the table.
One of those sides is Sunderland who currently sit in first with 18 points from 9 games. The Black Cats hade a tumultuous 23/24 season where they limped to a 16th place finish. They cycled through managers and had two stints with caretaker manager Mike Dodds.
But all of that seems to be behind them now, new manager Regis Le Bris has the team playing good football.
Last season, Hull concluded their campaign in seventh place, just shy of the playoffs by a mere three points, and they are now striving for a top-six finish and a chance to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016.
But that effort hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts as the Tigers sit in 13th with 12 points from 9 games. Even after what most teams would mark as a successful season, Hull sacked manager and club icon Liam Rosenior, who made 160 appearances for the club.
Current manager, German Tim Walter will be hoping things start going the right way or else he could face the sack thanks to high expectations set by the Hull City board.
Last 5 Games
Hull City have had a solid run in their last 5 fixtures, coming away with wins in 3 of them. Another positive to take for the Tigers is their knack in finding the back of the net.
Three successive wins over Stoke City, strugglers Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers by an aggregate scoreline of 10-3 over the past month were signs that Hull had put their stuttering start to the season to bed, However they’ll hope they can bounce back after a 4-0 hammering against Norwich away from home.
Sunderland, while they sit atop, have had a few struggles in the past few games- 2 wins 2 losses and a draw is what their record in their last 5 looks like.
They were extremely lucky to secure the draw, as a comical error from Illan Meslier gifted them the equalizer, putting them level on points with Sheffield United.
Hull City:
Loss: 4-0 vs Norwich
Win: 3-1 vs QPR
Win: 4-1 vs Cardiff
Win: 3-1 vs Stoke
Loss: 2-0 vs Sheffield United
Sunderland:
Draw: 2-2 vs Leeds
Win: 2-0 vs Derby
Loss: 2-1 vs Watford
Win: 1-0 vs Middlesbrough
Loss: 3-2 vs Plymouth
Team News
Hull City will continue to be without midfielder Ryan Longman, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury. Additionally, Timothee Lo-Tutala is recovering from a leg injury, hoping to make his debut soon.
Sunderland, meanwhile, will be looking to unleash their full squad against Hull, although fans are still waiting for the return of winger Ian Poveda, who has yet to make a significant impact this season due to a muscle injury.
Possible Line-Ups
Hull City:
Pandur (GK), Coyle, Jones, Hughes, Giles, Slater, Alzate, Mehlem, Belloumi, Millar, Bedia
Sunderland:
Patterson (GK), Hume, Mepham, O’Nien, Cirkin, Rigg, Neil, Bellingham, Roberts, Mundle, Isidor
Head to Head
When it comes to the H2H between these two sides, it is pretty balanced in terms of results. In the last 18 games, Hull City have won 5 times, Sunderland 6 and the winning result by one is a draw.
While the number of draws seem a lot, none of these draws are boring, usually most of them involve good goalscoring record. In April 2023 when these two sides met, the scoreline closed at 4-4 after Ozan Tufan slotted away a penalty in the 98th minute of the game.
The previous game between these two sides was on January 20th where Hull City emerged victorious thanks to a Fabio Carvalho goal in the second half.
Potential Deciding Factor
Looking to bounce back following a heavy defeat, Tim Walter’s men will want to get back to their high scoring attacking ways which could lead to an upset.
It’ll be interesting to see if winger Mohamed Belloumi can make inroads into a defence that exposed some of it’s weaknesses prior to the international break.
For Sunderland, they will be relying on their young but again attacking core in the form of Romaine Mundle, Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg, the 17 year old who’s already scored twice this season. This game could prove important as Sunderland will want to pick up momentum for a heavy run of fixtures heading into the November international break.
Predictions
Predicting a game like this, that has the potential to go in any direction is extremely difficult. Both sides have already shown their attacking prowess meaning it mostly will come down to which side can clamp down on defence.
Despite an upturn in results prior to the international break, Hull have generally struggled against the better teams in the Championship and we expect that narrative to continue on Sunday afternoon.
Sunderland survived a scare to collect a point versus Leeds and should be confident of getting back to winning ways at the MKM Stadium this weekend.
Our Prediction: Hull City 1 – 3 Sunderland
Odds
The bookies have Sunderland, the leaders to stay on a roll and continue their dream run on top of the table. Betano’s odds (subject to change) make them favourites.
Sunderland to win: 13/10
Draw: 12/5
Hull CIty: 7/4
Kickoff Time and Match Official
The game taking place at home ground for Hull City- The MKM Stadium will kickoff at 2pm GMT on Octobe 20th, Sunday, and will be refereed by Robert Madley.
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