Two sides with playoff aspirations meet in the EFL Championship this weekend as Hull City take on Sunderland.
Hull City currently sit 6th in the EFL Championship with ten wins, six draws and seven losses from twenty-three games.
The Tigers are having a pretty strong season in the Championship which was somewhat expected following a summer of investment, even if they’ve not quite been as consistent as they would have liked.
They’ve been a pretty mixed bag of late having won two and lost three of their last five games, the most recent of which was a 3-2 defeat away at Bristol City.
The loss was a fairly difficult one to take for the Yorkshire side who were 2-1 up heading into the 76th minute before the home side equalised, who then went on to steal the points with an 84th minute winner.
The loss followed a two-match winning run which tends to be how Hull do things, with Liam Rosenior’s side seemingly unable to embark upon extended runs of form.
Their home form, though, has been very good of late as they enter this one having won four of their last five games on home soil so they’ll be confident of getting back to winning ways in front of their own fans.
Hull have a hugely talented squad and a top-six finish is by no means off the cards this season, but if they are to have a memorable campaign then they need to iron out some flaws before other sides race ahead of them.
Sunderland currently sit 9th in the EFL Championship with ten wins, three draws and ten losses from twenty-three games this season.
The Black Cats have had a pretty turbulent recent few weeks with manager Tony Mowbray being relieved of his duties following a poor run of form with former Queens Park Rangers and Glasgow Rangers boss Michael Beale taking his place.
To say the appointment divided opinion would have been sugarcoating the matter and his tenure at the club got off to a nightmare start as his side were hammered 0-3 on home soil by Coventry City.
Sunderland were very, very poor and did little to offer any encouragement that things under Beale are likely to improve.
It’s still early days, sure, and his appointment should be allowed to play out somewhat before judgement is passed but it’s hard for anyone to be optimistic about Sunderland’s prospects for the remainder of the campaign.
They have a hugely talented squad that was the subject of serious investment in the summer and they need a top manager the reap the rewards of that. Whether that’s what they have in their tanks is highly, highly doubtful.
They face another tough test here and it’s hard to see three points coming their way.
For our Hull vs. Sunderland prediction, we’re going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.