Sunderland take on Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Friday night, in a real crunch match at the top of the Championship.
Before the November international break, Sunderland and Sheffield United were in joint-first of the Championship table, with the Black Cats ahead on goal difference.
But back-to-back draws since the restart, and five-straight draws, has seen Regis Le Bris’ side drop down to 4th, with the Blades in 2nd.
On Tuesday night, Sunderland drew 0-0 with West Brom at the Stadium of Light, whilst Sheffield United beat Oxford United 3-0 at home.
Chris Wilder’s side have now won five of their last six games and are unbeaten in those six as well. But they haven’t played Sunderland since 2023.
The Blades did the double over Sunderland during the 2022/23 season on their way to promotion from the Championship.
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Sunderland team and injury news vs Sheffield United, Dennis Cirkin update
For Sunderland, there’s no players returning from injury for the game at Sheffield United on Friday, with Dennis Cirkin sidelined.
Speaking to the press on Thursday, Le Bris shared a fresh injury update on Cirkin at Sunderland following a broken wrist diagnosis, revealing that the full-back is not going to be risked for the game in South Yorkshire.
The Black Cats remain without Salis Abdul Samed, Ahmed Abdullahi, Niall Huggins, Ian Poveda, and Jenson Seelt, whilst Romaine Mundle and Alan Browne are sidelined for up to eight weeks following their recent injury blows.
Sunderland predicted lineup to face Sheffield United
Sunderland have lost their attacking spark in the last few weeks, firing blanks in three of their last five games now.
Le Bris went with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation against West Brom and completely dominated the Baggies, with his side simply lacking that cutting edge.
Whilst many fans might want to see changes to the XI on Friday, there might not be any changes needed, with Sunderland just needing to be more clinical in front of goal.
Sunderland fans were critical of Tommy Watson after the game against West Brom and he might be rested for this bigger occasion, with the more experienced Aaron Connolly a good option to bring in.
Other than that, we may not see any more changes. Trai Hume could potentially return to right-back and Aji Alese start on the left, but that would mean dropping Luke O’Nien, which would be harsh.
Here’s our predicted Sunderland XI for the game against Sheffield United…
Patterson (GK)
Hume
Ballard
Mepham
O’Nien
Neil
Rigg
Connolly
Bellingham
Roberts
Isidor