Sunderland vs Hull City Prediction: Teams aiming for playoff spots

Sunderland will welcome Hull City at Stadium of Light in Game Week 28 of the English Championship. The teams will be aiming for playoff spots when they face each other on Friday. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Sunderland form

Michael Beale has had a varied start to his tenure at Sunderland, with a mix of positive and negative results. Wins against Hull, Rotherham United, and Preston North End kept the club in the running for a top-six position. However, heavy defeats to Coventry City and Newcastle United highlighted their weaknesses, and a loss to Ipswich Town further dented their chances. Currently in seventh place, Sunderland still have a decent position in the league, but they trail fifth-placed West Bromwich Albion by five points. While Sunderland have won eight out of thirteen home matches this season, they have also suffered five defeats, which can give hope to their opponents. In the previous match, Beale experimented with a 4-4-2 formation and had Jobe Bellingham in an unfamiliar position as a central forward. However, for the upcoming match, Beale is expected to make some changes to Sunderland's tactics. One potential alteration could be Nazarii Rusyn returning to the attack to replace Abdoullah Ba. This is likely to be the only change in the starting lineup. Patrick Roberts and Bradley Dack are still injured and are not expected to return for at least two weeks.

Sunderland Predicted Lineup

Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Alese; Ekwah, Neil; Pritchard, Bellingham, Clarke, Rusyn

Hull City form

On the other hand, Liam Rosenior's time at Hull has hit a rough patch. After a strong start, Hull have lost four of their last five games and have slipped to ninth place. They have also faced seven losses in their last eleven matches in all competitions, including a recent FA Cup defeat to Birmingham City. A win on Friday could help turn their fortunes around, but their small three-point lead over 14th-placed Bristol City leaves little room for error. Rosenior made several changes in the last game against Birmingham and is likely to go back to a similar lineup that faced Norwich in their recent league game. However, there are expected to be two alterations to that lineup. Scott Twine has moved to Bristol City, so he won't be playing, and Aaron Connolly is likely to miss out due to concussion protocols. Jason Lokilo is expected to feature on the left flank, while Billy Sharp will likely remain in the central position of the attack as Liam Delap is out with a knee injury until the spring.

Hull City Predicted Lineup

Allsop; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Jacob; Morton, Slater; Tufan, Carvalho, Lokilo; Sharp

Sunderland vs Hull City Expert Tips

After losing the previous match against Sunderland, Hull City will be motivated to seek revenge. However, we don't believe they will do enough to win the match. The Tigers, however, need to bounce back, and earning a point would be seen as a positive result.