All eyes will be on Burnley and Sunderland on Friday night when the two promotion hopefuls go head-to-head in a Championship six-pointer.
Sunderland have managed to maintain their promotion challenge throughout the season, and now, with 20 games to go, the Black Cats have a chance to go level on points with top of the table Leeds United.
Burnley vs Sunderland is a tough one to predict at this stage of the season, with so much at stake for both teams, and a tight encounter expected.
But anyone who’ll watch Burnley and Sunderland on Friday should expect things to play out very differently to the last time the two teams met in the Championship earlier in the season.
Scott Parker claims Burnley have improved since their last meeting with Sunderland
Regis Le Bris got the better of Scott Parker back in August, with the Black Cats snatching a 1-0 win despite going down to ten men. Now, Parker insists his team are in a much better place, and that we should see a very different Burnley this time around.
Speaking to the press (via Burnley Express on Twitter/X), Parker said: “It’s not even comparable in terms of where we currently are as a team to how we were before… that was unprecedented at that moment in time.
“It wasn’t out in the open, but clearly we were in a bit of a state in that fixture. Where we’ve moved from that point to now is not comparable.”
Assessing the nature of the upcoming fixture, Parker added: “It will be a tough game on Friday, as it was back then, but we are in a much better place, certainly psychologically and fundamentally as a group. How we’ve developed along the way, I wouldn’t say it’s tested us but it was challenging.
“There’s always challenges… you need to get through those moments, and we have. We were in a place where some players didn’t want to be here… it escalated a little bit more towards that game… but that’s in the past now and we are on the right track.”
Burnley can go top of the Championship table with a win on Friday, while Sunderland could match Leeds United’s 53-point haul if they get the win at Turf Moor.
Sunderland can exploit one Burnley weakness
Sunderland have quite the task on their hands this week. But they can find positive areas to exploit in Burnley’s strengths and weaknesses.
First of all, we know the Clarets are incredibly solid at the back and will be hard to break down. But, they are also sluggish in front of goal, and if Sunderland can stay tight in defence, there’s every chance the game will come down to one key moment — the Black Cats will be hoping their forwards can make all the difference.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 26 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 48 | 19 | 29 | 53 |
| 2 |  BurnleyBurnley | 26 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 31 | 9 | 22 | 52 |
| 3 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 52 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 39 | 22 | 17 | 50 |
| 5 |  BlackburnBlackburn | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 31 | 23 | 8 | 42 |
| 6 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 32 | 11 | 41 |
Sunderland can also exploit Hannibal Mejbri in the middle of the park, whose fiery nature could work against him. If the Black Cats players can get in his head, we could well see Burnley finding themselves at a numerical disadvantage.
A lot will depend on how Sunderland lineup for the Burnley game, but Le Bris will know his players are more than capable of toppling strong teams, just like they did against Sheffield United at the start of 2025.