Sheffield Wednesday vs Sunderland predictions: Owls to frustrate Black Cats
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- Sheffield Wednesday are 13th in the Championship
- Sunderland sit fourth, eight points off the automatic promotion positions
- Recommended bet: Draw
Sunderland's promotion hopes have taken a hit in recent weeks and the Black Cats may be in for more frustration when they go to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday.
Sunderland have slipped eight points off the top two in the Championship following successive defeats to Leeds and Hull.
The Owls also approach Friday's Hillsborough showdown on the back of two losses against Coventry and Burnley and are now 13th, six points adrift of the play-off zone.
Team news
Sheffield Wednesday are still set to be without the injured Di'Shon Bernard, Akin Famewo, Dominic Iorfa, Anthony Musaba and Olaf Kobacki for Friday's clash.
January loan signing Ibrahim Cissoko is pushing for his first start for the Owls after joining from Toulouse.
Sunderland also have several players absent with Tom Watson, Aji Alese, Niall Huggins, Jayden Danns, Dan Ballard and Enzo Le Fee all still struggling with injury.
The stats
Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their last five league games.
The Owls have drawn three of their last four home matches.
Only Derby and Hull have picked up fewer points than Wednesday's low tally of 22 in home games this season.
Josh Windass is the Owls' leading scorer with 10 goals this term.
Sunderland were on an eight-game unbeaten run in the league before losing their last two matches to Leeds and Hull.
The Black Cats won the reverse fixture at the Stadium of Light in August 4-0.
Wilson Isidor is Sunderland's top-scorer this season with 12 league goals.
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Prediction
Two sides who would have had promotion aims at the start of the season face off at Hillsborough, as they both look to get back on track after recent damaging defeats.
The Black Cats, in fourth, are facing a huge challenge to try and bridge the eight-point gap that has opened up between them and the top two, while Wednesday's play-off ambitions have also been hit lately and they are currently off the pace, down in 13th in the table.
The highly competitive nature of the second tier means that even though there is 17 points separating the two teams, Friday's clash is expected to be tight.
A point would do little to help the visitors' promotion bid but would at least halt their two-game losing run.
The Owls have drawn three of their last four home games and while they too are in need of a victory on Friday, this could be a familiar stalemate for the hosts.
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