Match Preview: Hull City v Sunderland - Will The Lads go back to the top of the Championship?

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

Now we're past the fluff of the international break, the proper stuff can start back up, and the Lads travel to Hull City with the aim of going back to the top of the league.

Sunday 20th October 2024

(13th) Hull City v Sunderland (1st)

Championship

MKM Stadium

Kick-Off: 15:00

Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets are sold out.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via Sky Sports.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don't forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

The build-up...

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I hate the international break. Although, having said that, it does make it more enjoyable when you can pull up the league table at any point in a two week period and know for a fact you'll find the Lads sitting pretty at the top of the table. Happy days.

But, we get back to the proper stuff once again and we're there to be knocked down, and it's up to the Lads to travel to Hull City to remain top of the tree. Today's fixture is the first of six fixtures in the next twenty days, where four of which are away from home and leads us into the next international break.

It's a tough ask to come out of that run in the same position as we begin it ahead of kick-off today, but in three weeks we're likely to have a clearer picture of whether or not this is just a good start to a season, or something sustainable to put us right in the mix.

Focusing on the fact that four of the next six are on the road, even though we currently boast the 6th best record in the division, we've lost the last two consecutive games at Watford and Plymouth Argyle. The other concern is that our two away victories so far have come against the bottom two in the table, where Portsmouth have the second-worst home form so far and Cardiff City the third-worst in the division.

But, only West Brom have scored more on their travels so does that mean we could expect goals this afternoon?! - I'll just check the odds for a goalless draw...

When you look at other Championship clubs from the outside, some decisions simply make no sense and Hull City did just that in the summer.

Liam Rosenior took the job back in November 2022 with the club sitting one point and one place above the relegation zone in the Championship, and he steadied the ship and finished 15th. Last season, his first full one in charge, he led them to a 7th-place finish, just missing out on the playoffs. From the outside, this looks like progress.

Each time we played them under Rosenior, it seemed like you knew their style and he put his stamp on them, but they parted company during the summer, with the reason given being their style of play wasn't good enough. Maybe Hull City fans will say there were reasons that we can't see from the outside, but it looks like a brave call.

His replacement is Tim Walter, who has managed Bayern Munich II, Holstein Kiel, Stuttgart and Hamburg in his native Germany and it's been a mixed bag to start with. Three draws and three wins from their first nine finds them on 12 points in 13th place in the table.

In terms of home form so far, they will be looking to improve on their first four games which have accumulated five points from a possible twelve, but it was in their last home fixture that saw their first win - a 4-1 victory over bottom side Cardiff City, which provides the boost going into today's game.

The betting...

The bookies have this down as a close one, with the Lads priced at 8/5, while a home win is offered at around 7/4, and the draw is 12/5.

Head to head... at Hull

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 9
• Draws: 7
• Hull City wins: 8
• Sunderland goals: 29
• Hull City goals: 30

Last time we met... at the MKM Stadium

Tuesday 26th December 2023

Championship

Hull City 0-1 Sunderland

[Clarke 82']

Sunderland: Patterson, Seelt, O'Nien, Ballard, Hume, Ekwah, Neil, Roberts (Pritchard), Dack (Aouchiche), Clarke (Triantis), Bellingham Substitutes not used: Bishop, Pembele, Ba, Mayenda, Rusyn, Burstow

Hull City: Ingram, Coyle (Christie), Slater (Traore), Morton, Jones, Greaves, Delap, Seri, Connolly (Lokilo), Tufan, Twine (Vaughan) Substitutes not used: Lo-Tutala, Jacob, McLoughlin, Docherty, Sayyadmanesh

Attendance: 24,420

Played for both...

Tony Norman

Between the two clubs, Tony Norman made over 600 appearances over 15 years. An incredible servant to both clubs and a fantastic goalkeeper on his day.

Played a major role in returning Sunderland to the top flight under Denis Smith and made some vital saves to help the Lads reach the FA Cup final in 1992.