‘The Champion’ Martin Wanless predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 0 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Aaron Connolly

This is a tough game on paper for us, and I’m probably leaning into the fairytale side of football here, but wouldn’t it be the perfect script for Aaron Connolly to come off the bench to net the winner for us? Yes, yes, Mason Burstow, but Connolly’s the story here and I think the stage is perfectly set.

I do think this’ll be tighter than you might otherwise expect.

We’ve lost our last two away games and whilst I don’t envisage any change in personnel, I think we’ll see a slight evolution in how we’re approaching away games.

Three consecutive away defeats is relegation rather than promotion form, so I reckon we’ll be a bit more pragmatic in our approach today, grabbing all three points in the last fifteen minutes.

Malc Dugdale predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor

Hull’s home form has been mixed this season, with a 2-0 home loss to Sheffield United and a 4-1 win at home to Cardiff probably the most notable.

I’m with Martin. This’ll be a pretty tight affair as we won’t want to keep losing on the road, and Hull won’t want to lose heavily again.

They’re in mid-table with twelve points just now, level with a few teams up to tenth, so they won’t want to get onto a slippery slope as we head into the winter. We’ll give them the ball and there’s a fair chance they’ll choose to do very little with it and play for a point.

Isidor really impressed me with his off-the-shoulder runs at home to Leeds and I think he’ll lead the Hull defence a merry dance.

To agree with Martin, I think Aaron Connolly could come on and bag our second, reversing the ‘typical Sunderland’ trend and showing Hull what they could’ve held onto if they gave him the same opportunities we have.

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Jack Howe-Gingell predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 0 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor

We’re finally back to proper football, and I hope we can push on from a good four-point haul prior to the international break!

Most of the lads will come back refreshed and Aaron Connolly has amassed plenty of minutes for the U21s, notching a few goals in the process. He’ll be raring to go against his former club and I’m almost certain we’ll see him on Sunday.

We’re also likely to see the returns of Dan Ballard and Eliezer Mayenda, which will add to our strength in depth.

Hull were mauled in their last game against Norwich so we need to be wary of them looking to bounce back, as they’d won three on the spin prior to that.

They score as many as they let in, so our steelier disposition should set us in good stead to pick up the three points.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Will Jones predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 1 Sunderland 4

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Jobe

After a long time at the top, we’ll know the state of play come kick off.

Hull are in a little bit of a state. Off the field, their vice-chairman has departed, whilst on the pitch, nobody knows what to make of who they play.

They’re all over the place; a team that’ll definitely attack and probably sneak a goal, but a team that we’re very capable of beating. Let them have the ball, mess around with it and smash them on the break.

This could be a huge scoreline, to be honest. I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Matty Foster predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor

It feels like a lifetime ago since the Illan Meslier howler that allowed us to snatch a well-earned draw against Leeds, but we’re finally back.

Today’s opponents come in the shape of Hull City, who entered the international break on the back of a heavy defeat to Norwich. That ended their three-game winning streak and they’ll undoubtedly be looking to rectify that on home soil.

By the looks of their results, they’ve found clean sheets hard to come by so far, with their last coming back in late August.

I have huge confidence in our lads right now, and something tells me we’ll have enough to edge this.

Let’s just hope history doesn’t repeat itself after the last international break!

Photo by Martin Swinney/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Bomber Davies predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 1 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor

Our encounters with Hull are always close affairs. Sometimes in football, you just have a fixture where teams always struggle to get ahead of one another, and this is one of those.

Whether it’s 4-4 draws, 1-0 defeats or 1-0 wins, you have to go back to 2017 for the last time a Sunderland-Hull fixture had a winning margin of more than one goal.

Hull have found it tough to score at home so far, scoring five in five, but it’s been even tougher for the opposition, conceding four,

Six of the last ten have ended in a draw, including three of our last four away trips, so it’s hard to get away from another draw this time round.

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Gary Winter predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Romaine Mundle

Proper football is back and I must say I’m a little nervous, given the performance we turned in after the previous international break, away at Plymouth.

There was a great buzz around the stadium after the dramatic events at the end of our last outing, so it’s shame that was left to settle down, albeit for a much-needed rest after three games in seven days.

Given that we didn’t make many changes for the Leeds game, I doubt there’ll be many following the break in schedule. Our best eleven should be strong enough to come away with all three points, so I’m predicting a narrow 2-1 win.

From what I’ve seen of Hull, I quite like the look of Belloumi on the right wing, so we need to be wary of him, and we also need to watch out for Mason Burstow coming off the bench, after he bagged a goal for them in a friendly last week.

Wouldn’t that be typical, but also all too familiar to us when it comes to ex-players!

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Brett Lyons-Davis predicts…

Score prediction: Hull 1 Sunderland 3

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Romaine Mundle

Mason Burstow: twenty games for Sunderland, one goal. Five games for Hull, zero goals.

Despite not starting games, his goal in their midweek friendly sets him up to start and then open the scoring in front of the away fans with the Sky cameras in full focus. It’s just a fact.

After the initial upset and ‘typical Sunderland’ being muttered through gritted teeth, the Lads should have too much for Hull, who’ll be licking their wounds after being hammered 4-0 by Norwich.

In what’ll be an unchanged side, the Lads will hopefully find their rhythm quickly, with Mundle getting us back into the game before we see out a routine 1-3 away victory.

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Last game predictions

Only two of our writers went for a draw at home to Leeds, and hence benefitted from an all-time goalkeeping howler.

Matty and Gary therefore get a point each for the right outcome, though I’d wager that even they’d probably given up hope as Anthony Patterson floated the ball aimlessly into the attacking end in the dying moments.

Nobody went for Chris Rigg as first scorer, so those couple of points for Gary and Matty were the only benefit from the game before the break.

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Latest standings

Will stays top, and there’s no movement other than Matty and Gary, who get a point closer to Bomber with a point each for calling the Leeds draw.

Today’s game could be very interesting, with Régis Le Bris wanting to end our losing streak away from home, but also being aware that in their last outing, Hull took a hammering so could well be looking to either steady the ship or bounce back at home.

A draw, therefore, might be something both coaches would take, but we know our lads don’t play for draws and at times, that attitude has been our downfall.

Hopefully the travelling faithful will get an away win to keep them warm in the trip back up the east coast this evening.

After our recent away results, the wandering hordes in red and white fully deserve something today.

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How the points are awarded

Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:

• Correct score = Three points
• Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
• Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goal scorer is a valid call)
• Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = Yellow Card warning, then a two point deduction.