Sunderland vs Liverpool Prediction: Black Cats to maintain unbeaten home record

After 25 rounds of fixtures, last season's EFL Championship play-off winners Sunderland are just three points behind reigning Premier League champions Liverpool, and the Black Cats can move level on points with the Reds by beating them at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday (20:00 GMT, TNT Sports 1).

Below are my Sunderland vs Liverpool predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Granit Xhaka, Jocelin Ta Bi (both ankle) and Bertrant Traore (knee) remain sidelined for Sunderland due to injury, but otherwise, head coach Regis Le Bris has a full complement to choose from.

Football Odds

The absentee list is a little longer for Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who heads to the Stadium of Light without Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni (both knee), Jeremie Frimpong (unspecified) and Alexander Isak (leg).

Dominik Szoboszlai, who broke the deadlock in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City with a stunning free-kick before later being sent off, will serve a one-match ban on Wednesday.

With the Hungarian, who was deputising at right-back for Bradley and Frimpong, suspended, Slot is likely to turn to either Curtis Jones or Wataru Endo to complete his four-man defence.

Joe Gomez could return from injury and has deputised before at right-back, but it may be too big a risk to start him on Wednesday.

Sunderland vs Liverpool Odds

Sunderland, whose last victory against Liverpool was in March 2012, thanks to a 56th-minute Nicklas Bendtner goal, are 4/1, or a 20% chance, to pick up all three points in midweek, while the visitors are 8/11, implying a 57.9% probaility of success.

The draw, which was the result in December's reverse fixture at Anfield (1-1), is priced at 11/4.

Draw No Bet - Sunderland @ 5/2

The traders have shown Liverpool a lot of respect in the Match Result market, and in my view, it's unwarranted.

The Reds have only won one of their last seven Premier League games (D4, L2), and they've failed to win any of their three on the road this calendar year (D2, L1).

Slot's side have triumphed just four times on their league travels this term, drawing three and losing five of the other eight.

Even at Anfield in December, Liverpool failed to get the better of Sunderland, having to rely on an 81st-minute Nordi Mukiele own-goal to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw.

Today's Football Fixtures

Sunderland, meanwhile, are the only side yet to lose a Premier League game at home in 2025/26.

Le Bris' boys have won seven and drawn five of their 12 league matches at the Stadium of Light, scoring 21 goals and conceding just nine.

Premier League title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City have already tried and failed to beat Sunderland on their own patch, drawing 2-2 and 0-0, respectively, and I'm not holding out much hope for Liverpool as they bid to become the first team to claim all three points on Wearside this season.

Sunderland are certainly backable at 4/1 in the Match Result market, but considering the number of stalemates they have experienced, it may be worth heading to the Draw No Bet market, so if the contest does end level on Wednesday, your stake will be returned.

Player to Receive a Card - Ibrahima Konate (LIV) @ 11/4

Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has received five yellow cards in 24 Premier League appearances this season.

The 26-year-old, who has been booked 5+ times in the last four Premier League campaigns now, also receiving a red in 2023/24, is averaging 1.1 fouls per 90 minutes in both the English top flight and Uefa Champions League this season.

On Wednesday, the Frenchman is likely to be paying close attention to Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey, who is averaging two fouls won per 90 in the Premier League.

Manchester United's Casemiro, Chelsea's Andrey Santos, Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali, Tottenham Hotspur's Rodrigo Bentancur and Crystal Palace's Chris Richards have all been booked for fouling Brobbey this season, and the ever-aggressive Konate, who upended the Dutchman once in December's reverse fixture, could add his name to the victim list on Wednesday.

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