Over the last just over a decade and a half, Sunderland have been thrown in and out of the heat and cold of English football. During this period, the Black Cats have played ten consecutive seasons in the Premier League and spent four championships in League One. At the end of the season before last, Sunderland still made it to the Championship, successfully making the play-offs, and were last year so good in the second division of England that they immediately took part in another play-off. The Black Cats didn't make it to the Premier League, but they managed to become competitive at the Championship level and maintain it in the current league. Sunderland are currently in seventh place in the standings, tied on points with Coventry City, who are on the inside of the top 6. Friday's match will be played against a direct rival with one point less. Hull City spent the past two seasons in the bottom half of the table, and now they are finally starting to show a different level of ambition. "Tigers" will come to the "Stadium of Light", having lost the rival match in the first round. Then Sunderland did not hesitate to play away aggressively and scored the only goal in the match in the second half. In the context of the proposed bet, it is interesting that the last match of rivals exactly at the "Stadium of Light" nine months ago ended with a score of 4:4. Bookmakers have identified the home team as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.85 on their victory.

Sunderland lost to Newcastle in the FA Cup during the first week of the year, but hardly worried much about it. The defeat in the last round from Ipswich Town was much more painful for the team. Firstly, the "black cats" played well and had chances to succeed. Secondly, the tasks in the Championship are much more important for them. Here the team goes with even periodic slumps and rises. Now Sunderland shows itself well, so it may well play in the next meeting from the attack.

Hull City is experiencing serious game problems. In the last six official meetings, the Tigers have lost four times and once parted ways with their opponents. The visitors have nothing to lose, so you should expect them to be active in the forward line.