Preview: Sunderland vs. Leeds United – prediction, team news, lineups…..

Leeds United and Sunderland, who are both in the top six of the Championship table, will square off at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.

After three straight wins, the visitors are still in third place, eight points out of the top two, while their hosts, who lost Tony Mowbray, got back to winning ways over the weekend.

With a win at the Stadium of Light over the weekend, Sunderland began life under interim manager Mike Dodds with some much-needed confidence heading into the midweek Championship fixtures.

With hopes of improving on his team’s run to the playoff semi-finals the previous season, Tony Mowbray guided the Wearside team into the new season with 27 points from their first 19 games. However, he was fired in early December.

The Black Cats suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield Town before only managing a point from a 1-1 draw away at Millwall thanks to Jack Clarke’s penalty 12 minutes from time. In fact, a difficult stretch following the November international break, against three sides in the bottom seven of the Championship, signaled the end of his tenure. The club hierarchy then turned to Mike Dodds to take charge on an interim basis.

His first test was a difficult one over the weekend, as fellow playoff contenders West Bromwich Albion came to the Stadium of Light leading the Black Cats by five points. However, the hosts, who had lost their previous manager, were able to get back to winning ways after going up 2-0 in the last 20 minutes through goals from Dan Ballard and Dan Neil, then holding strong for the last few minutes as Brandon Thomas-Asante cut the deficit in half.

Now that they’ve swiftly regained their place in the top six, even though they now only lead Hull City and Cardiff City by goal differential, Sunderland will look to win the Championship back-to-back for the first time since early October.

They will undoubtedly face another challenging test at Wearside on Tuesday when Leeds United visits with the goal of going eight games without a loss and winning four straight league games.

The Yorkshire team has had a fantastic start to the Championship season as they attempt to immediately return to the Premier League under Daniel Farke. Only the impressive records of Leicester City and Ipswich Town prevent them from finishing in the top two at this point. They have collected 41 points from their first 20 games and 39 from their last 17 attempts after settling into a groove under the new manager.

Farke’s team has lost two of those 17 games, the most recent away to Stoke City in October. Other than that, they have had an almost perfect record, winning three straight games before having to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw with their Yorkshire rivals after the international break in November.

After defeating Middlesbrough 3-2 at Elland Road, the Whites swiftly got back on track with a 3-1 victory against Swansea City. Most recently, they traveled to Blackburn Rovers and made it three straight victories as Daniel James and Crysencio Summerville led them to a 2-0 victory at Ewood Park.

Leeds has a three-point lead over fourth place and is in the midst of a strong run. They will keep their focus on winning with the goal of making it four straight and 13 for the season in England’s second tier on Tuesday, even though they are still seven points behind leaders Leicester and eight behind second-placed Ipswich Town.

After Sunderland’s 2-1 victory at home over the weekend, Mike Dodds has little reason to alter the starting lineup for Tuesday’s game. Dennis Cirkin, Jay Matete, and Jewison Bennette are still sidelined due to injuries.

After scoring his third league goal of the year on Saturday, Dan Ballard will once again partner with Luke O’Nien at the center of a back four. Pierre Ekwah will remain as the midfield’s anchor, while Niall Huggins and Trai Hume will undoubtedly hold their positions on either side.

This gives Dan Neil and Adil Aouchiche more room to move forward in a 4-1-4-1 formation, and Jobe Bellingham—who leads the team in scoring with 10 goals in 20 Championship games this season—should be able to maintain his position at the front of the line with assistance from Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke, a former Leeds United player.

Leeds United’s roster offers more room for rotation, so Daniel Farke will have to make a few choices on Tuesday as players like Djed Spence, Willy Gnonto, and Jaidon Anthony all want to start after making appearances on the bench over the weekend.

While Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe have shown promise through the middle in a 4-2-3-1 system and should both continue to feature from the start, Gnonto and Anthony might be brought on if Farke allows Daniel James and Crysencio Summerville, who have scored seven and nine goals from the wings thus far this season, to take a break.

Other than that, Joe Rodon, a loanee from Tottenham Hotspur, has established himself as a vital player alongside Pascal Struijk in the middle of the defense and will continue to start over club captain Liam Cooper. Ethan Ampadu is a mainstay in midfield, and Glen Kamara is expected to join him again.

Patterson; Huggins, O’Nien, Ballard, Hume; Ekwah; Roberts, Aouchiche, Neil, Clarke; Bellingham could be Sunderland’s starting lineup.

Potential starting lineup for Leeds United is as follows: Messier; Spence, Struijk, Rodon, Byram; Kamara, Ampadu; Gnonto, James, Piroe; Rutter.

We declare: Leeds United 1-0 Sunderland
Daniel Farke’s Leeds United is playing with a lot of energy and will be anxious to avoid making any more mistakes in their quest for a top-two finish. However, we believe that a revitalized Black Cats team will share the spoils in Tuesday’s top-six match.

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Best advice
Under 3.5 goals is the prediction made by our knowledgeable tipster partners at Sporita.com for this game. For more of their well-researched football predictions and to see what else they have in store for this match, click this link.
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