Hull City vs Sunderland Preview: Team news, last meeting, recent form, referee and how to watch

All you need to know ahead of the game against Hull City.

Will Jeffries | Dec 15, 2022

Hull City vs Sunderland Preview: Team news, last meeting, recent form, referee and how to watch /

Sunderland visit Hull City this weekend looking to put things right after they let another lead slip on Monday evening against West Brom.

The Black Cats head into the half way point of the season sitting in 11th place, while the home side are currently 21st.

While the northeast side are only six points away from the relegation zone, their main focus will be looking to stay in contention to make the play-offs.

When: Saturday 17th December, 3pm
Where: MKM Stadium
Where to watch: Sky Sports (Red Button), iFollow, SAFSee

Team news:

Oscar Estupinan is available for the home side this weekend after recently serving a three-match suspension.

Dimitrios Pelkas is out for 10-12 weeks though after suffering a knee-injury against Watford, while Greg Docherty should be available after suffering a dead-leg last time out.

Ozan Tufan will be pushing for a recall into the Tigers starting team.

Dan Ballard, Ross Stewart and Edouard Michut are all back in Sunderland training, with Mowbray easing the players back into the fold to risk further setbacks.

Jack Clarke and Patrick Robert’s will be pushing for recalls into the starting XI. Bailey Wright and Jewison Bennette are also in contention for selection following World Cup duties.

Last meeting

The two sides last met in League One in April 2021, where the two sides played out a 2-2 draw behind closed doors due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Sunderland goals were scored by Jordan Jones and Grant Leadbitter.

Sunderland team: Burge, Bailey Wright, Power, Wyke, Gooch, O’Nien, Scowen, Leadbitter, McFadzean, Winchester, Jones

Recent form

Hull City: LDWLD

Sunderland: WLWWL

Head-to-head (Last 10 matches)

Hull City wins: 3

Draws: 4

Sunderland wins: 3

Referee

Gavin Ward will take charge of this match and has refereed 38 games over the last 12 months and has issued 100 yellow cards.

Ward last took charge of a Sunderland match on the 8th October 2022, when they lost 2-1 away at Swansea City. The Sunderland goal being scored by Jack Clarke.

He will be assisted by Sam Lewis and Bhupinder Gill, with Dean Whitestone acting as the fourth official.

What the managers have said

Tony Mowbray is expecting a tough game this weekend against the Tigers who currently sit in 21st place.

"I watched them (Hull City) on the TV against Watford and I have to say, they were very good," Mowbray said.

"Every game is tough. That's the next opportunity to try for us to go away and try to get a positive result. We've done pretty well away from home recently.

"We will have to show resilience but be really positive and go there and see if we can take three points.

"They're all tough games and Hull City is the next one".

Liam Rosenior was pleased with his sides recent performance, but knows his side must continue to pick up points if they are to stay up.

"I can't wait," he said. "I think it'll be a really good game between two good footballing teams. I watched them on Sky [against West Brom on Monday]. They were unfortunate as they played really well against a good team.

"We know they've got some good attacking players. They play a really nice brand of football.

"We have to get our home form right. At this level, you have to bank on your home form. I've only had one home game so far, which I thought we were unfortunate to lose. We have to turn our dominance into results.

"I would ask the supporters to come (to Saturday's game against Sunderland) and see it as a new season. We have to do our bit on the pitch. We're playing in a completely way to how we played before. Our home form is going to be key".

Sunderland predicted lineup

We are predicting two changes to the Sunderland line-up with, hopefully, Ross Stewart returning to the bench too.

Sunderland predicted starting XI (4-2-3-1): Patterson; Gooch, O'Nien, Batth, Alese; Evans, Ba; Amad, Pritchard, Clarke; Simms.