Halftime with Hambone

The Stadium of Light plays host to this titanic affair between two squads hopeful to make the promotion play-offs at the season’s end. With the reverse fixture contested on Boxing Day (26 Dec 2023), the two teams will be familiar with each other under the Friday night lights.

Key missing players:

Sunderland

• Patrick Roberts – started and subbed off in the 74th minute on Boxing Day. Injured next match. A great player and first-team choice for sure, but has allowed more playing time to Alex Pritchard. Little drop-off in terms of skill.
• Aji Alese – A surprise to me. Has recently returned from a long injury layoff, but seemed to be a first-team choice. Jensen Seelt starting instead. Shouldn’t be a massive letdown. Different styles for sure.
• Bradley Dack – Personally, I prefer Pritchard anyway and Dack is a sub. Not a massive loss.
• Niall Huggins – A true fullback and would start today if fit. Alese was a nice replacement, but now it’s up to Seelt.

Hull City

• Jaden Philogene – Easily the Tigers’ best player this season. They miss him a ton.
• Liam Delap – Started nearly every league match and a Manchester City loanee.
• Aaron Connolly – Leading scorer with eight goals so far. Just injured in their last league match.
• Jean Michael Seri – international duty. Started 25 matches this season. Seems a big miss.

Starting Lineups

With the injury/missing list for Hull City growing, I believe they won’t have the attacking firepower to win on the road, especially at a ground like the Stadium of Light.

Score prediction: Sunderland 1 – 0 Hull City

Jack Clarke continues his fine form and nets the only goal of the match for the Black Cats.