Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Sunderland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sunderland will endeavour to climb back into the top half of the Premier League table and push towards the European spots when they travel to Molineux to face already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

After winning the reverse fixture 2-0 at the Stadium of Light in October, the Black Cats are looking to complete their first league double over the Old Gold since the 1949-50 season.

Match preview

Wolves cannot wait for the 2025-26 campaign to come to an end, and Rob Edwards’s side are merely playing for pride after their relegation to the Championship was confirmed earlier this month.

Since beating reigning Premier League champions Liverpool 2-1 at Molineux and then drawing 2-2 with Brentford in March, the Old Gold have suffered three successive defeats to relegation-threatened trio West Ham, Leeds and Tottenham by an aggregate score of 8-0, losing 1-0 at home to the latter last weekend.

Wolves are the Premier League’s lowest scorers this season with 24 goals and have failed to score in a division-high 18 of their 34 games; the last team to not score in more matches were Norwich City in the 2021-22 campaign (22).

Under Edwards, Wolves have accumulated enough points to move clear of Derby County’s unwanted 11-point total from 2007-08 – the lowest in PL history – and they should now aim to climb above managerless Burnley off the foot of the table, with just three points separating Wolves from the Clarets in 19th spot.

Wolves head into Saturday’s contest having lost all four of their Premier League matches against promoted teams this season, but they can take some comfort from their run of seven home league games without a defeat against Sunderland (W3 D4).

Sunderland will be looking to shake off the disappointment of their humbling 5-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest last week, their first home league loss by five or more goals since a 6-1 thrashing by Birmingham City back in April 1958.

Four of those goals were conceded in the opening 37 minutes of a bizarre game that caught everyone off guard in the Premier League. A “painful” Regis Le Bris has since warned his Black Cats players that “when you drop your standards just by 10%, your opponent can kill you”.

Although that result represents their fourth home loss in five matches and has seen them slip to 12th in the table, Sunderland remain in the mix for European qualification, as they sit just three points behind Bournemouth in seventh with four games remaining.

Sunderland travel to Molineux this weekend having conceded nine goals across their last two league games, with the aforementioned loss to Forest taking place after a 4-3 defeat to Aston Villa. Only once in their league history have the Black Cats conceded at least four goals in three successive games, doing so between September and October in 1928.

The Wearside outfit have faired better in recent encounters with Wolves, though, as they have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four league meetings - a run stretching back to April 2012 - including back-to-back wins by an aggregate score of 5-0.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

Sunderland Premier League form:

Sunderland form (all competitions):

Team News

Wolves will be without injured duo Sam Johnstone (shoulder) and Enso Gonzalez (knee), while Ladislav Krejci will have a neck injury assessed ahead of kickoff.

Yerson Mosquera is available for selection, though, after serving a two-match suspension and the defender is set to return to a three-man backline to play alongside Santiago Bueno and Toto Gomes.

Tolu Arokodare and Hwang Hee-Chan will both be hoping to force their way into the first XI, but Edwards may decide to lineup with Mateus Mane and either Jean-Ricner Bellegarde or Rodrigo Gomes in behind central striker Adam Armstrong.

As for Sunderland, Romaine Mundle (hamstring) remains injured, but Bertrand Traore (knee), Jocelin Ta Bi (ankle) and Nilson Angulo (unspecified) could return to the matchday squad either on Saturday or next weekend.

Trai Hume could be replaced at left-back by Reinildo Mandava, and Chemsdine Talbi is an option to take the place of Chris Rigg on the right flank, but a midfield trio of Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra should remain intact.

Wilson Isidor is the Premier League player to have played more games than anyone else without completing the 90 minutes in any of his 29 appearances. The Frenchman could be handed a 12th start of the season this weekend, but Le Bris is more likely to stick with Brian Brobbey up front.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Sa; Mosquera, S. Bueno, Toti; Lima, J. Gomes, Andre, H. Bueno; Mane, Bellegarde; Armstrong

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinildo; Xhaka, Sadiki; Talbi, Diarra, Le Fee; Brobbey

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Sunderland

Considering how vulnerable Wolves and Sunderland have looked in defence in recent weeks, we expect the net to ripple at both ends of the pitch this weekend. However, Sunderland will still be regarded as favourites and should have enough quality in their side to claim three valuable points to keep their top-seven hopes alive.

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