Sunderland vs Millwall – Preview, Lineups, Prediction

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Fixture: Sunderland vs Millwall
Competition: Championship
Kick-off: 15.00 UK Time

Sunderland will be determined to overcome their most recent loss to Coventry City when they host Millwall at the Stadium of Light this afternoon. The game will be crucial for the Lions as they will hope to keep their playoff dreams alive by securing three points against the Black Cats.

Alex Neil is set to return to the Stadium of Light with his Millwall side in the hope of inflicting pain on his former side, Sunderland. It is a ground he knows very well and the fans also, as he is the one who helped Sunderland to get promoted to the Championship after four years in League One.

Both teams will have significant absentees from their matchday squad due to dealing with an injury crisis. Regis Le Bris will be troubled with Dennis Cirkin’s injury in the Coventry City game before the international break and he is set to be out of action for the next two to three weeks. With the injury to Leo Hjelde and Niall Huggins, Sunderland are left with no players in the left-back position. The Black Cats manager will now need to use either Trai Hume or centre-back Joe Anderson to fill in at the left-back role.

Le Bris’ counterpart Neil will also miss some of his key players going into this game, with Femi Azeez and George Honeyman being two of them. However, the Lions will go into the game with confidence, as they have done well in the games away from home recently.

Given that Millwall are currently eight points outside of the playoffs with eight games left, this game will be especially crucial for them. Neil’s team can no longer afford to make a mistake. Whereas Sunderland, sitting in fourth place, have a comfortable 12-point gap between themselves and seventh placed Bristol City.

Recent Form (league)

Sunderland: LDWWL
Millwall: WLWLW

Predicted Teams

Key Men

Sunderland

Wilson Isidor has been a key figure in Sunderland’s goalscoring department, scoring 12 goals so far in the league and once again Le Bris has to keep his faith in the 24-year-old to breach Millwall’s solid defence.

Jobe Bellingham is crucial to the Black Cats’ midfield inventiveness. In order to dominate the midfield and pull strings to control the game on Saturday night, the Sunderland youngster will need to be at the top of his game.

Millwall

Neil’s side have struggled in the goalscoring department this season and the stage is set for former Sunderland youth product Josh Coburn to burn bright at the Stadium of Light against his old team.

Millwall will have to tackle Sunderland’s striking department, consisting of Wilson Isidor, Eliezer Mayenda and Romain Mundle and they will need to rely on their defensive rock at the back, Japhet Tanganga to be up for the challenge on Saturday.

Match Prediction

Following their 3-0 loss to Coventry City, Sunderland will be eager to make amends in front of their home crowd on Monday. However, the Black Cats manager is well aware that Millwall are not to be taken lightly. In his pre-game press conference, Le Bris emphasised that Neil’s team know how to take advantage of the spaces and Millwall are comfortable without the ball.

Neil’s side will be aware of Sunderland’s weakness on the left-hand side with Cirkin and Hjelde absent and they will try to exploit that side with Bangura-Williams’ pace. Sunderland are expected to control the ball possession, but the challenge for the home side will be to make things happen when they are in control of the game.

The Millwall boss is a shrewd tactician and will try to set up his team in a way to hurt Sunderland without dominating with the ball. However, Neil will be hoping that his defence can showcase a top-class performance against a very strong Sunderland attack to negate their threat.

Games in the past between Sunderland and Millwall have been low-scoring affairs and the Black Cats’ last victory in this fixture came at the Stadium of Light in December 2022 with a 3-0 win.

Inside Futbol Score Prediction

Sunderland 1-1 Millwall

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