Sunderland face Leeds United on Monday night, and the eyes of the Championship will be on these two promotion contenders.
Monday night’s game at Elland Road has built up to be a huge one in the race for Championship promotion, with Leeds United in 1st place of the table and Sunderland in 4th.
Seven points separate the two teams as things stand, meaning a win for either side could completely change the promotion picture. But right now, the momentum is with Daniel Farke’s side.
Leeds are unbeaten in their last 14. Last time out they thumped Watford 4-0 just a week after Sunderland struggled against the Hornets in a 2-2 draw. On top of that, Leeds have kept six clean sheets in a row.
On Wednesday night, Sunderland beat Luton Town 2-0 at the Stadium of Light to maintain their unbeaten home record in the league in 2024/25. Earlier in the season, Sunderland and Leeds drew 2-2 on Wearside, with Illan Meslier’s last minute blunder sharing the points on the day.
Sam Parkin shares his Leeds United vs Sunderland score prediction
Speaking on the Championship Check In podcast ahead of the next round of fixtures, Sky Sports commentator and EFL expert Sam Parkin gave his score prediction for Monday night’s showdown in West Yorkshire.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to this. I just think this is one of these nights where the Leeds fans will know the importance of it, putting down another marker. It’d be colossal for Sunderland to go there and win.”
Parkin later added: “I can see Leeds flying at them, maybe getting two goals in front, and possibly Sunderland getting one back and making it a grandstand finish.”
Parkin thinks Leeds will beat Sunderland 2-1 on the night. It would be a first league defeat in seven for the Black Cats whose last loss was the 1-0 defeat against Stoke City at the end of December.
Sunderland’s record against Leeds United
Leeds are a bit of a bogey team for Sunderland who’ve not beaten the Whites in any of their last four attempts, with just one win against Leeds in eight.
Indeed, the two teams have barely played each other in the last 10 years with just eight meetings in that time: one win for Sunderland which came in the 2017/18 Championship season, whilst Leeds have won four of those.
2002 was the last time Sunderland won away at Leeds United in what was a Premier League fixture at the time. Between 1996 and 2001, Sunderland beat Leeds United six times in a row.
History may be on Sunderland’s side ahead of Monday, but certainly not recent history. And recent form definitely favours Leeds.
Kick off is at 8pm and the game will be shown live on Sky Sports.