Hull City and Sunderland are united in their quests to pull away from the relegation battle ahead of their meeting at the KC Stadium on Tuesday.
Black Cats boss Gus Poyet has conceded that his side must defeat the Tigers when they visit Hull because he believes tomorrow’s match and the following game against Aston Villa will dictate the rest of their campaign.
They are coming from a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United, where they started the game well but ended up paying the price for missing a couple of chances earlier in the game. That defeat left the Black Cats just three points above the drop zone.
Poyet will have Wes Brown available after the central defender’s controversially sending off for a foul on Radamel Falcao that John O’Shea seemingly committed was overturned. Brown has been among the regulars in Poyet’s starting XI with 19 league appearances already this term so the Black Cats will be glad to have the veteran defender available for this crucial tie.
Hull City are also treating this match as a cup final after a defeat at Stoke City last weekend cut short their recent run of good form. The Tigers are a place and a point above Sunderland in the table and former Black Cats full-back Ahmed Elmohamady believes that his side must quickly respond after the disappointment at Stoke, where Hull failed to register a single shot on target.
Steve Bruce’s men will at least draw confidence from their head-to-head record with the Wearsiders. They have won all their last four meetings with Sunderland, including the 1-3 victory they claimed at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day.
Hull City team news
James Chester (dislocated shoulder), Liam Rosenior (hamstring) and Robert Snodgrass (knee) remain long-term injury absentees.
Mame Diame, Nikica Jelavic (both knee) and Robbie Brady (calf) could be involved.
Sunderland team news
Adam Johnson has been suspended by the club following his arrest on suspicion of underage sex offences.
Ricky Alvarez (knock) is a doubt after missing the trip to Old Trafford.
Emanuele Giaccherini, Billy Jones (both ankle) and Jack Rodwell (calf) are expected to miss out.
Hull City vs Sunderland prediction
Dame N’Doye will surely be back in the line-up after only appearing from the bench at Stoke but if Jelavic misses out then Abel Hernandez could start up top. Andrew Robertson may come in as a left wing-back in Hull City’s 3-5-2 formation.
Poyet will probably stick to the side that started at Old Trafford, with the exception of Johnson’s absence.
This should be another 4-1-4-1 formation for the Back Cats with Lee Cattermole as the sitter while Connor Wickham and perhaps Will Buckley operating as wide attacking midfielders breaking from midfield to support Jermain Defoe.
Both sides badly need points in their survival battles, which could lead to an open game. The key could be the striker becauses Hull City’s forward are in better form than Sunderland’s front men.
