Hull City head to the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon. Although Sunderland and Hull are at opposing ends of the table right now, both could desperately do with a win.
Hull City sit in 21st place of the Championship table after a rather dismal season so far. Sunderland though are up in 4th, during what’s panned out to be a quietly sublime maiden season in England for manager Regis Le Bris.
But last time out his Sunderland side were beaten 2-1 away at Leeds United in a game where the Black Cats had the lead, but once again threw it away, and threw away two vital points in the race for promotion.
Hull meanwhile drew 1-1 at home to Norwich City in their last game. Ruben Selles admitted he was unable to scout Sunderland properly ahead of the weekend, after finding out that tickets for the Leeds game on Monday were sold out.
His Tigers side have won just one of their last five and sit only a place and a point above the drop zone right now, with an incredible 32 points between them and Sunderland.
- READ MORE: Leeds United ‘just one’ team interested in Wilson Isidor as Sunderland sources share worrying update
Hull City star Steven Alzate eyeing Sunderland upset
Although the Tigers have struggled this season, they’ve shown that they can be giant killers. In January, Hull City thumped Sheffield United 3-0 at Bramall Lane and so Sunderland really shouldn’t take Selles’ side for granted on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking to the press ahead of his side’s trip to Wearside, Hull City midfielder Steven Alzate has called on his teammates to try and replicate that Sheffield United scoreline at the Stadium of Light.
He said: “If we could beat Sunderland 3-0, we’d take it all day long. Sunderland away is not going to be an easy game. They’re having a good season. But whether it’s Sunderland or another team in the division, any game in this league can go either way.
“Got to respect every team you go up against, so we need to go into that game believing in what we cam do, and not think to much about what they’re going to do, and hopefully we have a good game like we have been doing recently.”
Sunderland’s record vs Hull City
Since Sunderland returned to the Championship in 2022, they’ve played Hull City five times, losing just once, drawing twice and winning twice.
The Black Cats have won two of their last three games against the Tigers including the reverse fixture at the MKM Stadium earlier this season: Wilson Isidor scored the only goal as Sunderland beat Hull City 1-0 back in October.
But Sunderland lost their last home game against Hull City in January 2024, losing the game 1-0. In fact, the Black Cats haven’t beaten Hull City on home turf since the 2017/18 Championship season.
Since 2010, Sunderland and Hull City have played each other in the Premier League, Championship, League One, FA Cup, and in the League Cup, totalling 19 games with Sunderland winning six and Hull City winning six.
The last time Hull beat Sunderland by a 3-0 scoreline was in the FA Cup in March 2014. A 3-0 defeat on Saturday would mark Sunderland’s heaviest defeat under Le Bris so far.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 12:30pm.