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Last time out...

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Current standings...

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How the points are awarded...

Just a quick reminder on how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:

• Correct score = 3 points
• Correct outcome (but not correct score) = 1 point
• Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = 1 point
• Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting = to be decided

We also have our League One predictions here that went out on the site before the season began. We’ll keep an eye on these as we go along because, at the end of the season, this will come back into play when each correctly placed side adds five points to that person’s tally.

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This week’s predictions...

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Explain yourself...

Malcolm Dugdale says...

Sunderland 1-0 Oxford United

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Lynden Gooch

This is definitely one of the trickier games in our upcoming sequence, with Oxford in unbeaten form in five and holding out Rotherham for 90 minutes in their previous fixture.

After a great start to the season we haven’t had a Gooch goal for a bit, and we are due a 1-0 solid win too - clean sheet and hold on to a lead well, even a slim one.

Oxford will be keen to keep that unbeaten run going to move closer to the play-off places, so they may not go for it too much. It could end up a case of whether or not we can break them down and get a winner.

Broadhead hit a screamer las time out and Lynden is more than capable of one, had a top bin curler saved well not long ago and is well overdue, so let’s have it son.

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Matthew Foster says...

Sunderland 1-1 Oxford United

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

It would be an understatement to say the league is tight right now, with only six points separating ninth from first. Eighth placed Oxford’s current form is impressive but concerning for us, having only lost one in their last ten games, which came back in mid-October.

The only slight comfort I have is their record on the road is poor; with only two wins in seven games and three defeats. Placing that with our near-perfect home form, I think this will probably end up in a stalemate, in what will potentially be a feisty affair.

Let’s just hope the only use of a head this time round will be Stewart’s with the ball to give us the lead!

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Jack Howe-Gingell says...

Sunderland 2-1 Oxford United

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

The race for the top-six is hotting up and we need to follow up our good result against Cambridge with another here.

Oxford keep it tight at the back with Matty Taylor leading their scoring charts. Talismanic winger James Henry remains a threat and we will need to work hard defensively to keep them out.

I feel a full strength Sunderland side will have too much for Oxford, though I expect them to test us in their efforts to crack the play-off places.

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Will Jones says...

Sunderland 1-1 Oxford United

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Bailey Wright

This has the potential to be one of the hardest games this season. Over the last few weeks, both teams have had their squads depleted. Ours by injuries and Oxfords by COVID.

Oxford came away with a point last week against Rotherham with 13 men out which I see as a very respectful point and one that worries me. They must be a team with the bit between their teeth to fight with a second team out.

However, the hope can always be that they bring players back into the fold who are not ready. They start and they fold like a deck of cards and we take them apart. That is the hope, but with Oxford’s form I’m just not so sure we have it in us.

Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

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Martin Wanless says...

Sunderland 2-1 Oxford United

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Nathan Broadhead

It’s a vitally important game at the SoL today, and it’s pleasing to see the club rearrange fixtures earlier in the campaign than we have done in previous seasons.

The Oxford game last season saw Karl Robinson make an official complaint to Northumbria’s finest, and Lee Johnson’s assistant Jamie McAllister up on something akin to a murder charge, so it’ll be interesting to see if there’s any sort of hangover from that – although key protagonist Max Power’s no longer around.

All that said, I expect a tough, competitive, tight game, with Sunderland winning by the odd goal in three – and a 2-1 win would get our December off to a very good start indeed.

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Chris Wynn says...

Sunderland 1-1 Oxford United

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Ross Stewart

Oxford are on such a good run that their tails will be up at the moment and there’s just a slight question mark as to which Sunderland will turn up.

We’ve been getting decent results in the league of late but we’re not quite back to the free-flowing football we saw in the early part of the season. I’m expecting a nervous game with both sides not wanting to give much away, and when combined with a likely edge following last season’s encounter it could well end up honours even.

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