Sunderland travel to Hull City in the Championship this weekend, on the only Sunday game of this next round of fixtures.
Round 10 of the Championship sees Sunderland in action last, meaning that Regis Le Bris’ side are very likely to lose their top spot by the time they face Hull City at 3pm on Sunday.
As things stand, the Black Cats sit in 1st place of the Championship table ahead of Sheffield United in 2nd on goal difference.
Last time out, the Sunderland drew 2-2 with Leeds United at the Stadium of Light, whilst Hull City lost 4-0 at Norwich City, currently sitting in 13th.
Sunderland vs Hull City H2H
Last season, Hull City won 1-0 on Wearside whilst Sunderland won 1-0 on the Humber.
Jack Clarke scored the only goal as Sunderland beat Hull City in January this year, marking the Black Cats’ first win away against the Tigers since 2017.
Meanwhile, Hull’s win against Sunderland last season was their first over the Black Cats since 2014.
In the last 10 years, Sunderland and Hull have faced each other 16 times, with the Black Cats winning five and the Tigers winning four.
Sunderland team and injury news vs Hull City
Le Bris gave a very thorough injury update during his Friday presser, with former Hull man Aaron Connolly an obvious taking point.
The Sunderland boss says Connolly will be involved against Hull City this weekend, following his impressive performances with the U21s.
Meanwhile, Eliezer Mayenda and key defender Dan Ballard are set to miss the game game but will be available later in the month.
Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi are still a while away, as are Aji Alese, Jenson Seelt, and Niall Huggins, who signed a new Sunderland contract this week.
Sunderland predicted XI vs Hull City
With Connolly now in the fold, and Mayenda soon back, Sunderland now have an unusual situation in that they have a few striker options.
Expect Le Bris to continue with Wilson Isidor who’s been in fine form of late, though we could well see Connolly feature off the bench against Hull.
Injuries are rife in defence. But Le Bris will no doubt name an unchanged back-four of Trai Hume, Chris Mepham, Luke O’Nien, and Dennis Cirkin.
We could in fact see an unchanged XI from the side that faced Leeds United earlier in the month, with no player from that XI unable to feature against Hull, and no players back in starting contention.
Here’s how we think Sunderland will line up against Hull City this weekend…
Patterson (GK)
Cirkin
O’Nien
Mepham
Hume
Neil
Rigg
Mundle
Bellingham
Roberts
Isidor