EFL Championship Play-Offs 2022-23: Sunderland vs Luton Town: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

The EFL Championship Play-Offs are set to be underway

Luton Town currently sit fourth in the league, with a seven-point cushion separating them from falling out of the playoffs, and look on course to be in with a chance of the holy grail promotion to the Premier League. They face a visit to a Sunderland side who were once hopeful of reaching the playoffs themselves, Luton has been brilliant defensively all season and has the third-best defensive record in the league.

They have kept clean sheets in four of their last five games going into this one and will look to continue this trend against a struggling Sunderland side. This is the first leg of the EFL Championship playoff semifinal and this match will be key to deciding the result of the play-off.

Sunderland were hopeful of reaching the playoffs as they went on an impressive run of form, but their good run of form halted and now they find themselves in the sixth spot in the table it will be really difficult now for them to get the promotion to the Premier League, as the gaps in the point table are increasing.

Kick-off:

Saturday, 13-05-2023, 4:30 PM (GMT)

Saturday, 13-05-2023, 10:00 PM (IST)

Sunderland Form(All Competitions): W-D-W-D-W

Luton Town Form(All Competitions): D-D-W-D-W

Players to Watch Out

Sunderland: Amad Diallo

A winger who is also capable of playing as a midfielder, Diallo is a quick and dynamic player with a high technical ability and a good vision of the game. The fact that he is two-footed makes him a versatile player. He is in very good shape and he is performing very consistently for his team, in this season he has scored a couple of goals and provided some assists as well. He will be very much motivated to help his side to get a promotion to the Premier League.

Luton Town: Sonny Bradley

He is the captain of the team, he is known for his strength in physical duels whether it's ariel or in-ground duels. He is very vocal in the pitch and leads the team with examples. He plays the main role in organising the backline and the midfield by continuously giving instructions to his teammates. Very strong in setpieces while defending and will be a huge task for Sunderland attacking players to overcome this obstacle

Match Facts

Both meetings between Sunderland and Luton Town in the Championship this season have ended 1-1, with the Hatters taking the lead in both games.

Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 18 home games against Luton in all competitions (W12 D6) since losing 1-0 in September 1973 in a second-tier meeting at Roker Park.

Luton Town are featuring in their fourth EFL play-off campaign – they have failed to win promotion from any of their previous three, going out in the semi-finals each time: 1996-97 in the third tier, 2016-17 in League Two, 2021-22 in the Championship.

Injury and Team news

Sunderland could be without Dennis Cirkin and Lynden Gooch for the upcoming games v Luton Town after the pair picked up injuries against Preston. Tony Mowbray said, "Dennis' ankle, he couldn't move it. It had swollen up on him and he had no feeling in it, we'll have to wait and see". Both Cirkin and Gooch have only recently returned from previous injuries, so these fresh injuries really are a blow to them and to Mowbray who already has limited options in defence. Danny Batth, Dan Ballard, and Aji Alese are all sidelined at the moment.

Luton Town doesn't have any injury concerns. 

Head-to-Head Stats

Matches: 20

Sunderland: 10

Luton Town: 5

Draws: 5

Predicted Lineup

Sunderland Predicted Lineup(4-2-3-1):

Patterson(GK), Pritchard, Hume, O’Nien, Anderson, Neil, Ekwah, Roberts, Diallo, Clarke, Gelhardt;

Luton Town Predicted Lineup(3-5-2):

Shea(GK), Osho, Bradley, Potts, Onyedinma, Campbell, Watson, Clark, Doughty, Taylor, Freeman;

Match Prediction for Sunderland vs Luton Town

A prediction of Luton winning looks good here, with their imperious defensive form carrying them to another victory. Luton meanwhile has lost only twice in their last fifteen league games, and have won four of their last five by a 1-0 scoreline, with the only exception being a draw against another promotion hopeful in Millwall. The Hatters average just 0.83 goals conceded per game when on the road, and pick up an average of 1.89, winning 56% of their away league games this season.

Prediction: Sunderland 0-1 Luton Town

Telecast

India: Fancode

UK: BT Sport

USA: ESPN+

Nigeria: Supersport