Sunderland vs Huddersfield Town: How to watch, team news, recent form and referee

All you need to know ahead of the Sunderland's Sky Bet Championship game against Huddersfield Town.

Author:
Will Jeffries
Publish date:
Apr 18, 2023 9:32 AM EDT

Sunderland host Huddersfield Town at the Stadium of Light looking to secure back-to-back home wins, as the lads currently sit two points off the play-off spots.

If the Black Cats were to prevail against the Terriers, it would see them sneak into the play-off spots till at least Wednesday evening.

Last time out, Sunderland secured a 2-1 win at home against Birmingham City, while Huddersfield Town went down to a 1-0 defeat away at Swansea City.

How to Watch

When: Tuesday 18th April 2023, Kick-Off: 7:45pm
Where: Stadium of Light
TV: Sky Sports (Red button) or (App) or SAFC Stream (UK)
Radio: BBC Radio Newcastle

Team News

Dennis Cirkin misses out for Sunderland as he serves a one match suspension for being sent off against Birmingham City, which means Luke O'Nien could come in on the left side to replace him.

Tony Mowbray also revealed in his press conference that one player picked up in an injury in the match against the Blues, although refused to name who.

Josh Koroma and Josh Ruffles could both return to the Huddersfield Town starting line-up after the duo started the game against Swansea City on the bench.

Neil Warnock admitted in his press conference that one or two of his players were carrying knocks and didn't take part in full training on Monday.

Last Meeting

The two teams last played each other in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday 2nd November 2022, with the Black Cats winning 2-0 courtesy of second half goals from Alex Pritchard and Amad Diallo.

Sunderland Team: Patterson, O'Nien, Wright, Batth, Cirkin, Roberts, Evans, Embleton, Pritchard, Diallo, Dajaku

Recent Form

Sunderland: DDDWW
Huddersfield Town: WWWDL

Head-to-head (last 10 matches)

Sunderland wins: 6
Draws: 2
Huddersfield town wins: 2

Who is the referee for Sunderland vs Huddersfield Town

Leigh Doughty will take charge of this match and has refereed 30 games over the last 12 months and issuing 140 yellow cards.

He will be assisted by Philip Dermott and Matthew Jones, with Ben Toner acting as the fourth official.

What the Managers have said

Tony Mowbray has warned his side not to fall into Neil Warnock's possession trap, who's side grinded out wins against play-off chasing Middlesbrough and Millwall and also Watford.

Mowbray said: "They are not really interested in possession of the ball, but they make life really difficult for you, they break away and they are very good in transition when they win it. I watched Huddersfield's televised game against Blackburn Rovers - a team I know very well - and I think Blackburn had 81 percent possession over the course of the game and yet they were 2-0 after 20 minutes.

"We have to make sure that we're not lazy when we lose the ball, we have to track their runners because they mark you man for man all over the pitch. The challenge for us, with the players we've got, is to break them down.

"It would be nice tomorrow night to keep that excitement going into the last three games, and when we get round to the West Bromwich Albion press conference we are still trying to keep it going. Then Watford, and then let's hope we have a big last day at Preston and we are going there knowing that a result will confirm that we can finish where we would like to.

"I think that will be really tough, though. The three teams that I've just mentioned there - West Brom, Watford and Preston - are all fighting with us to try and get into that top six, so they are going to be interesting games.

"We want to keep it interesting for the fans and for the players as well. I hope the supporters are enjoying the chase and the challenge of it."

Neil Warnock is expecting a tough game at the Stadium of Light and will be hoping his side can get something from the game to avoid his side being involved in a relegation battle.

Warnock said: "Sunderland beat Birmingham City at the weekend and will expect to beat us - I think Tony Mowbray has done a fabulous job up there.

"It's so tight at the top end that anyone has a chance of the Play-Offs, but we've got to try and come away with something for ourselves.

"It's another difficult game for us on the back of an unlucky defeat, but we've got to try and give Sunderland problems - it would be nice to think that we could come up with one or two answers ourselves.

"Nothing is easy, that's life. It's another challenge to get the points we need."

Predicted Sunderland line-up

It's difficult to say without knowing the identity of the player who is injured, but we'll hazard a guess that it's Edouard Michut given his performance and relatively early substitution against Birmingham. Don't hold us to that, though!

Perhaps that would give Sunderland a chance to use the 4-1-4-1 system we briefly saw against Birmingham again.

Sunderland predicted line-up (4-1-4-1): Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Gooch; Neil; Amad, Pritchard, Roberts, Clarke; Gelhardt